Infinite Stratos: Hidden Trump
by Blackshadow999
Summary: My life was going the way I wanted, then the Bunny called me, to get her kicks by messing with my life again! Now, I'm going to the IS Academy, all my classmates are my age and females... This'll be some of the hardest challenge I've faced! That Rabbit will pay for making my life HELL and that's a promise I'll KEEP! No Ichika in this story. OC main.
1. Unexpected and Unwanted Changes

**A/n**

 **I have gone through and done revisions. Sai is a tad different, will swear somewhat now and more detail in the story in general. He is also 16 instead of 15, still in the same age range of first year high school students would be. Timeline with this story has been expanded a bit more for the events that will come later. I do not own any of the Infinite Stratos Characters or anything else in the series. The fictional characters are mine and if they resemble someone else it is a fluke.**

Chapter 1

Unexpected and Unwanted Changes

Hello one and all, my name is Sai Taichi and I am sixteen years old as of last September. My birthday is on September 17th; so I've been sixteen for closing in on three months as it's the beginning of January now. I stand at five foot and four inches when I was last measured, that was two months ago, so I could possibly be a little taller. My figure is lean, yet fit; ever since I took a fascination in martial arts… well, the workouts keep me in shape and give me a great physique! The hair I have is a thick mop of black, grows in many straight spike like follicles that go out away from the center of my head. It has an average length of five inches in the front and seven and a half in the back. There is a bit of a wave to the right with my hair, it's natural as far as I have seen. Then there is a part of my hair that goes down between my eyes, though it doesn't cover them in any way. My eyes are a dark reddish color with a tint of brown in them; some people can be unsettled by the color, but I just ignore the reaction. My facial features were streamlined, with high cheekbones and a small nose; so yeah, I have good looks by what most say.

Nonetheless, so that you understand, I ain't like any normal sixteen-year-old you've likely met. You would expect a teenager my age would be entering into high school… as a freshman as my birthday falls past the cutoff date for school attendance, meaning I would have been on the older end of my peers were I with them. You'd be wrong, I'm not going to that kind of place, nor am I around my peers who are the same age as me, why? Cause technically, I've already graduated from high school and have no intention any time in the near future. Granted, I'm aware with me being sixteen, people would say I'm too young to graduate from high school. To them I say, shut it; I did it, accept that and leave me be. I'm really smart, the reason I was able to complete high school by the time I was eleven. Should any not believe me, they can see my high school diploma and get over it.

In short, it can be said that I'm a really smart kid and it's true; doctors have given me tests and my IQ… its high to put it mildly. Smart as I am though, I still wish to see how far I can go with my intelligence and so, currently for my life, I'm going to college as a sophomore. It seems strange I know, no need to remind me. When everyone around you, is more than five years older in age than you and most are taller… I'm reminded of the gap frequently. But I have gotten used to it now after the years of there being a sizable age gap between those around me and myself.

My school of choice, is one you may have heard of; Cornell University which is in Ithaca, New York. I chose this college as it specializes in and is famous for its degree programs that relate to my interests and dream. That dream involves, what I consider a life's work that's still unfinished and so is what I work on in my spare time when I'm not in school. But I'll get to describing of the project as my story goes on… trying to not get ahead of myself in my story too much. Now where was I… oh yes, I'm currently a sophomore. After I finish two more classes, which I should in around two months, I'll be a junior with the number of credits I'll have. So, nice position to be in, I would doubt that anyone would have a problem with the kind of life I am living right now.

Yet… when everything is going so good and well for you… that's when 'someone' or 'something' makes things take a turn… usually for the worse… Murphy's Law and all of that, so it was for me! It all started with a phone call… from someone I had a strong dislike for and don't want to talk to! One who gets you into situations that are either just plain, nerve gratingly painful, or are just evil and wrong to do to someone, sucks either way I tell you! … But it will be easier if I just dive into this, so here I go.

-Present Time-

 _ring ring_

 _ring ring_

Picking up the phone to answer it, I didn't look at the caller ID as I was concentrating on looking over my list of supplies I would need for school this semester. "Hello, this is Sai, how can I…" I began.

I was unable to finish the greeting, as I was interrupted by a feminine voice, _"SAI-TAN!"_

Instantly, I held the phone at arm's length as if it was an extremely poisonous snake! The voice gave away who it was on the other end of the call… and I have grown to detest the woman a great deal and I'm very ticked at her! Almost every time… she's come into my life… things go careening downhill. The knack and a habit that she has for making my life hell, whenever she finds me, would be nothing short of astounding… if it wasn't the problem it causes. Case and point, the last time I had to unfortunately talk to her, which was a year and a half ago; I had ended out with getting into a really bad chain of events that had just been a 'hell in a hand basket' kind of situation by the finish… got close to ending out in prison! Because of that, I wanted nothing to do with the woman; no talking to her or having anything to do with her at all! Yet still… how does this woman manage to somehow find me?! It was so tempting… to hang up the phone and pretend that the call had never happened. … But I knew better, her persistence is stronger than the enjoyment that the Devil would have with the job of torturing. The woman would just keep calling until she said what she wanted…

"If you're hoping for a 'hello, it's nice to hear from you d**n metal eared bunny, no way in hell it's happening! You really have a lot of nerve calling me at all, with the sh*t that you got me into the last time you popped into my life! Now, I haven't the faintest clue how the heck you got my number… again, nor do I really care. I thought I made it clear the times before; whatever it is you are calling about… don't! I'm not a way to get your f**king kicks!" I managed to say in a marginally controlled tone of voice.

" _Aww, now don't be that way Sai-tan! I have just a teeny tiny thing to ask of you."_

It took a moment and a couple of inhales and exhales to keep myself from blowing up sighed and losing it. Tabane Shinonono… The bunny or other variations of rabbit as I refer to her as; most commonly would be, the metal eared bunny. This particular woman, I have had the unfortunate fate of meeting and getting to know at a young age. The word eccentric, doesn't describe her enough; she's weird and at times, freaky… Hell I could accuse her of molestation! The bunny also, is very good at making my life miserable and end out being a living hell… don't judge me with me saying that. With the things she's done to me, that's what it feels like. The last 'teeny tiny' favor she asked did get me nearly sentenced with… a punishment that I didn't earn or want at any time during my life! Why does she do this to me?! I just want to be left alone… Is that too much to ask?

"Funny stupid bunny, as I recall, the last so called teeny tiny thing you asked of me; I agreed to do if you would leave me alone. Yet here you are calling me, not leaving me alone like you promised you would! Don't even get me started on what that favor brought into my lap to deal with… was a huge mess… which I was force to clean up! Do you have any idea what I had to go through because of what you pulled?! … Not that it matters, honestly; I'm getting ready to start school for goodness sakes! So, shove that selfish attitude of yours, up your a**, keep your word for once and leave me alone! I don't have the time or patience, to deal with sh*t from you." I stated with contained anger.

" _Don't say that Sai-tan. And what I'm talking about has to do with school!"_

… has to do with School?! She better the f**k not! My life is my business and not someone else's entertainment.

"No Rabbit! Don't you dare! I've already arranged school for myself and you won't…" I hissed, but it was no use.

" _You'll be going to the IS Academy this year! Isn't that great Sai-tan!"_

…She's doing it again! I HATE THIS WOMAN!

"No, you D**n bunny! You never ever listen to me, you soon to be hasenpfeffer! I have my schooling arranged and planned out! You won't do sh*t to interfere in that if you know what's good for you! Besides, the IS Academy in Japan is at the high school level, I'm beyond that level of education and have no intention of returning to that prison…" I growled with hatred and anger.

" _If you don't go, I'll post pictures and videos of you with Alice and me all over the internet… Oh you were so cute! I'm going to have to watch one of the videos after this!"_

I felt horror and rage at what the metal eared bunny had just threatened she would do should I not agree to what she wanted. The only pictures that involved the bunny and the other woman named Alice Masta or doll as I call her… were pictures and yes, even videos, which I never wanted to see the light of day! The things that those two did to me… and then for them to record evidence of their actions… it's just plain evil and wrong! In fact, I thought I destroyed all the copies… physical and digital of those pictures and videos of those times; I was sure of it! Apparently, the woman somehow hid some from me… the d**n bunny still does things dirty and unfair…! My control over my emotions was starting to slip fast, I needed to finish this up quick.

"I would say that you wouldn't, yet I know you would bi**h… for the record, I hate you! You're so selfish, that I doubt you would or have ever care about what others think about you! No, you just always go full f**king steam ahead and make things harder for others and don't give a crap!" I said in a measured tone, before ending the call.

I took a moment to set my cell phone down and make sure the door was closed and locked. Then my fist slammed into the desk in the room, "D**N IT! THAT METAL EARED BI**H IS A D**N PAIN IN MY A**!" I screamed in fury at the turn of events.

I sunk into the chair at the desk in my room after that. Originally, with the arrangements that I had managed to make for myself this school year, I had put aside set time to put in on my project that was my life's work. Yet, still take the general courses that would give me the credits to be a junior in a little less than two months. It had been an ideal arrangement for me and now it was to go down the drain. Been looking forward to getting more time than I have before to work on my project that I've been working on off and on over the last few years. In fact, now that I take the time to think about it; that's probably what the d**n hasenpfeffer wants from me, to see my work and is the reason is blackmailing me with the crap she is.

The change in my standing and situations due to the outside interference; spelled out the rest of the day and a few that followed, those being used for talking and begging to my professors for their understanding and patients. Most of the professors and the university administration were willing to work with me as I'm one of their 'star students'. When I had gone to the administration office, to drop the extra courses that I had intended to take to be a junior in a short period of time, was not a happy experience for me at all. Imagined that I would have to drop most if not all my college classes, and I was dreading that would be what I would have to do. Thankfully for me, after doing some research; I found out that the IS Academy had the tech that would enable me to attend lectures and not actually be physically present. So, I wouldn't be force to completely give up my college studies completely… If that had been the case, then I would be planning how I would hunt down the Woman responsible and make her regret ever thinking about messing with me! …The end result of that… would be a very high possibility of a third world war starting with the war path I would be carving to get a shot at the bi**h! It would be the last straw if I had to give up my studies and work on my project. Still, I'll be planning my revenge against the woman, and do so carefully so that I wouldn't fail!

The next three weeks passed by quickly and after saying my farewells to those I was leaving for a while. And so, I was flying towards Japan and the IS Academy; sulked and brooded during the whole flight! I hate being forced into a situation and circumstances that I didn't choose to be. With me being blackmailed into this sh*t by a woman that was once, believe it or not… my friend! It just made all of this… (sigh) My life can just suck when she comes into it! But things didn't stop there; I was to learn that the situation I was now in is only beginning. I have just started seeing the sh*t hit the fan! There is more to come.

When I got to Japan, getting through customs and security was pretty routine, kept my visa and passport current just in case I need to use them. Although me getting here was easy, having my project here is turning out to be a bit of a nightmare I was finding out. My life's work could get here without much trouble, at least that's what I had thought, with going to the private company that I normally did for shipping things would cause the least amount of issues. But the US government, who I have assisted a few times before now, is having a beef with me as I haven't told them what it is I'm shipping. Were I to tell them, there is a good chance that the government won't let my project, which is my IS unit, to leave the country… and that would complicate things for me.

The first few things on my growing list of woes I was getting shoved onto to me. The next would be the school itself and those who attend… Where crap really started spraying off the fan. Those who attended… were all female, meaning I was the one and only guy in the whole school. You might as well call the place an all-girls' academy! There are some guys that were fellow students back at the university that were jealous of me when I told them. They haven't a f**king d**n clue what trouble and problems there are going to be with me… especially, when I have the fairly good looks that I do.

Before I elaborate, let me state for the record, I have nothing against girls or anything. I've actually gone on a number of dates, but those were with college aged women, not high school aged teenagers! I'll admit that my difficulties come from the lack of time that I have spent with my same aged peer group, but that's how my life has gone. Back to my 'peers' that I would be joining soon. The girls I'm about to be thrown among, will be hormonally affected females that have just got out of, or are at the end of puberty. And with me being the only readily available male… I can't be the only one that sees a problem with this upcoming development. I don't do or take flirting well… due to the actions of a certain perverted bunny and sisterly doll having fun at my expense and did things to my mind in the end.

Well, after landing in Japan and making my way with my stuff to the school; I took the time to find someone and ask for directions to the academy's head office. When I got there and met with the headmistress of the place, I spent the next hour and a half explaining my standing academic dilemma. I may be here against my free will, but that doesn't mean I can't make this at least a bit better circumstances to work with. Thank God the one in charge of running this school was more than happy to accommodate my requests, which made things marginally easier. Plus, as I was working on a college level of education right now, I was excused from having to do the basic high school courses a second time. All I had to attend, were the classes that dealt with the subject of Infinite Stratos or IS. I already knew all about them, but that's not common knowledge… and who says no to an easy A!

Then… my opinion changed a little when I saw the uniform that I would be required to wear during the school day. I can understand the white dress shirt, even if I don't like it… but, this uniform has much to be improved as it looked like trash to me! … I think it should be burned, but I doubt I'll get to do that. It consisted of a kind of blazer that was to be worn over the dress shirt and… yes, I would have to wear a neck tie… d**n! Back to the blazer, it had two triangle creases folded down to expose the tie for the world to see; so, there was little way I could hide whether I'm wearing a tie or not… double f**king d**n it. The blazer had long sleeves and had a built or woven in belt around the waist. The pants were white dress style pants like the rest of this horrible set of clothing that would be force upon me… f**k this d**n sh*t! I'll look like an idiotic butler or servant in this uniform! I'm trying to avoid humiliating myself whenever the possibility comes around, not as easy as it sounds! The female gender has a low enough opinion of males as it is without me dressing in something that adds to the view!

So, with all the preliminary stuff settled… some of it begrudgingly. … Cue the sarcasm to start now, you would think that starting high school for the second time, would have somethings to be happy about wouldn't you? Relive the golden years of your life they say, feel what it is to be young again they say! They can take that malarkey and cram it up their a**! Hell, I'll be more than happy to assist them in doing so. Yet, I can't complain about everything being all bad, for it isn't. I'm going to be surrounded by girls and get experience around people my age and that's something I need to do. Although, I may have no interest in an intimate relationship right now, I wouldn't say no to some new friends for company. With the academy being as well-known as it is, a portion of the students are from different places around the world. That was how it was at Cornell and I found the idea very nice. So, what other problems are there here for me? My biggest beef, is lots and lots of girls demanding my attention for most if not all hours of the day. I'm not interested in having a harem in any way, yet I'm being force to be in a position to have a huge one unwillingly!

It was on Monday of the following week that the truth of my position fully sunk in! To think, I thought college life would be tough because of the difference in age between the other students and myself along with sheer population of the university. This situation was worse in a completely different way due to the ratio of gender. Finding my homeroom was fairly simple as I had used the remainder of the week that I had before the semester started to get the layout of the school and the city down enough that I could get around. I had stayed in a visitor room the academy had as they were arranging a room for me in the dorms. This school was large, no denying that, but the university campus is bigger, so it wasn't too much of a change. The funny thing is, I have yet to see anything resembling a map of the place. The University had a map mostly for new students, but still had a map.

When I arrived at my homeroom, things went from okay as the day started at, to me seriously thinking about leaving this place and opening rabbit season early, going on the hunt for one of the metal eared kind and take her down some notches! It took a few seconds to take in the room that was filled with thirty girls, who were all currently staring at me with a variety of expressions. I've become used to being stared at and I had expected to be here; had gotten plenty of gawking when I first started at the university. However, that had faded as the students got use to the one young teen that was studying with them. Nonetheless, the magnitude of the attention I was receiving and the metaphorical spotlight I was under now, didn't feel pleasant at all!

After taking a seat in the only available one, which happened to be in the front row and the center of the row in the grid of desks and waited for class to start. As the staring from the teenagers continued, I couldn't help but think of how much I hate to be the center of attention like this. If being the only guy didn't give me the label of going on center stage, the stares that I could feel on me from all the girls certainly did make this harder for me. Granted, I can understand the fascination of a new student and everything, more so since I am a guy in a girls' academy and don't fault them for it. Still, I feel like I'm about to be assaulted or smother in the near future… (shiver) better keep up my guard if I want to keep my virtue intact throughout this semester! … Prepare yourself for my wrath bunny bi**h, I vow and swear that it will come!

"Why did this …" I was keeping my breathing even, trying to calm down.

To Outside observers, it may look like I'm nervous, that's not the case. I'm going back and forth between frustration, the wish to strangle the woman responsible for this and keeping my cool and calm demeanor. My right eye began to twitch a little as this whole situation was getting to be stressful to me, a result of habit. Yet, I managed to keep in control of my emotions, "This is going to be one of the longest semesters I have done in a while." I said quietly to myself.

Why does my life have to be so complicated? Can't I have a normal, non-world altering life? My solace currently, was thinking about what I'm going to do to that metal eared bunny when I track down where her hole is! The atmosphere didn't really change when the teacher, or at least I assume that the woman was the teacher; walked into the room and stopped at the desk at the front of the room.

The woman looked to be in her late teens to maybe her early twenties, she had a height of five foot and almost an inch by my estimation. Her hair was kind of loud, because of all colors, it was green and went down to her neck. Interestingly, her eyes were the same color as her hair and I could clearly see that even through her silver rimmed glasses. She was wearing a yellow dress with black sleeve frills and black frill at the bottom of the skirt portion of the dress. The dress dipped down in an oval shape in the middle of her… upper… chest area? … My God! How can a young adult have that kind of size?! … (ahem) My apologies, continuing on; she had a pink shirt cover her chest area so that she was decent. This woman also was wearing knee length boots as was seen as she walked into the room.

"Congratulations for making it to this school I'm your first year sub homeroom teacher, Miss Maya Yamada" She said.

… Does she want us to stand, bow and say hello or something? I don't know what's traditional here in Japan, even with the Japanese heritage I get from my mom… … Why won't these girls stop staring at me?! I'm not that interesting! I just want to be left alone. But by the way these girls were acting, you would think that they have never seen a guy properly before now. I kept my calm air about me, even if I didn't completely feel calm and collected right now. The sub- homeroom teacher was obviously nervous as well from the atmosphere of the room as the slight stammering she let out implied.

"Um… Starting today you are all now students of the IS Academy. As you know this is a boarding school students are together during and after school hours, so I hope you get along and help each other, making the next three years enjoyable." Continued Miss Yamada nervously.

… Three years… of this Sh*t?! Not if I have any say whatsoever about it! This may not be as bad as what the bunny did the last time, but it isn't much better! She'll so pay for this; I'll find a way to make you experience the emotions I am right now! Consider rabbit hunting season officially open!

Boarding at this school, just screams misunderstanding and wrongfully being blamed for things. Don't think that I don't see a huge plus of having girls around; I'm not gay after all. But females in these numbers… it's bordering on insane; at least it's more than one sane guy can handle in my opinion! Then the other big point in this, these girls having raging hormones with the age they are right now as do I somewhat… I more used to dealing with those who have decent self-control. My experience, comes from having gone out with some female colleagues at the university and the outings were enjoyable. In fact, the ladies say I'm quite the gentleman, which I take as a compliment. The picture of me getting mobbed at some point of being here, doesn't appeal to me in the slightest! Should I be forced to endure this for three years, let's just say I'm not looking forward to this… sheer torture!

Miss Yamada continued still in a nervous manner, "Now, … Moving on to self-introductions um, let's go by numerical order on the class roll."

While I was having my internal struggle, attempting to think of things that could assist me in this circumstance, yet I was having little success. It might not help my situation to ask the teacher anyway, they're not always going to be around if I need a bailout. Well then… it is once again, up to me to make certain of my own continuing survival like it has been for years now, thank goodness I have a gift for tactics, I would need that!

"Hello, Sai Taichi."

The sound of the teacher, Miss Yamada, snapped me back to my senses and I responded without thinking, "Yeah, I'm here."

Looking up and seeing Miss Yamada was right in front of my desk and leaning over it putting her… WHAT THE HELL WOMAN?! Is she trying to get my libido to wake up or something with her rack about a foot from my face?! I jerked back a bit in response; hasn't this woman heard of personal space? As a gentleman I wish she wasn't so close; I'm getting a view that's… amazing, but dangerous as it could mess with my mind. The green haired woman put her hands together and spoke again, "I do apologize for being so loud just then, but we started with the A's and now gotten all the way to the T's, so would you mind introducing yourself now, pretty please."

… Hmm, can't say I have ever had a teacher quite like this one. I exhaled heavily before I gave my reply, "You really don't need to be so apologetic ma'am." I said.

I rose to my feet smoothly; females or not, must give a good first impression, "Sai Taichi ladies, it's nice to meet you all."

Instantly feeling the stares of the girl return with more force than before; I looked left and right, all the girls looked like they had some sort of gleam in their eyes. … What is this? Some kind of school comedy?! It felt demeaning to be gazed at like this; I couldn't tell if they were going to mug me or kill me or both. In my mind the thought came, _'Okay… awkward, perhaps I should say something more or they may think I'm really depressing or something stupid like that. I just hope I don't end up regretting this.'_ I took a deep breath and gulped again and all the girls paid even closer attention to me.

"May we have… fun learning together." *Bam* the girls hit either their desks or the floor. ' _Apparently that line wasn't received well. Great.'_ was my thought in my brain _._

The next thing I knew, my instincts developed from martial arts blared at me to move and so, I did. A fist made contact with my desk and would have hit my head had I not moved. Ah, proof that taking up martial arts was a wise decision! The question of the moment is, who is out to hit me and why? I look up to see the culprit whose fist had damage my desk, only to see another woman… one that I knew and hadn't seen in around three years. "Oh… hey, Chifuyu… it has been a while since our paths intersected, hasn't it?" was the only thing I could come up with to say.

Chifuyu Orimura, a woman I had known since I was an older kid. A tall woman that stood at a little over five foot four; with long black hair, which splits into parts so that her face isn't obscured at all. Currently she was wearing a black business suit coat over a white dress shirt, along with the matching black skirt that goes midway down to her knees. Chifuyu had a green tie and by the sound of it, was in high heels, which could be very dangerous with this woman! Chifuyu still appeared to carry herself in an almost regal manner you would expect from someone of high-borne status.

I respect Chifuyu Orimura for a couple of reasons, the major one, was she very often saved me from the clutches of… the hasenpfeffer and the porcelain life sized doll. The metal eared bunny may be known to the world as the genius that created the IS, but that's not completely true. The doll did a share of the work as did I as well. Yet, the life size doll nor I wanted or took the credit of the achievement, so the dumb bunny got all the credit for creating Infinite Stratos. Well, when those two girls met me… they took a real shine to me… and I mean a REAL shine… (shiver); there were times that I seriously thought they would smother me to death, it had been that bad! Thanks to Chifuyu, I was saved from such terrible things; also got to know her younger brother who was my age… but that's a hard subject between us… more so after his death. In fact, it had been at his funeral that Chifuyu and I had last seen each other and that was three years ago.

Back to the present, the expression of Chifuyu Orimura's face didn't spell good things for me at all. Chifuyu, upon missing me struck again and I caught her punch with both hands. … Admittedly, I think the monster of a woman has somehow gotten stronger than she was the last time we were in the same room… I would be interested, but at this time, my standing doesn't allow me to take this lightly. I got my answer in the form of Chifuyu's other fist connecting with my midsection. All the air left my body and I sunk to the chair at my desk, breathing with effort. My gaze met the older woman's glare and I matched hers so that Chifuyu would know that I would fight back if she kept going.

"Nice to… see you too… Chifuyu" I managed to gasp out a greeting before Chifuyu backed up a bit and gave me her infamous cold glare.

"You will call me Miss Orimura at school" was Chifuyu reply to me; I simply nodded for now.

"Oh you're back, does that mean that the meeting is over already," asked Miss Yamada.

"That's right Miss Yamada, I'm sorry about having to make you welcome my class for me." Chifuyu said in a much nicer tone.

Well what do you know, to the other teacher; Chifuyu is nice and well mannered. Yet to me, a friend, even family to an extent, she just hits me! If this is somehow what the bunny wanted… I will be less nice in the payback I'll deliver… And I wasn't going to be nice to begin with! …. Actually no, Chifuyu feels like I do when it comes to the metal eared bunny, she wouldn't help her knowingly. Although, I have got to say, never would have expected Chifuyu Orimura of all people to get a teaching job, it's just not her normal style. Wonder what it was to get her to take this job?

Chifuyu spun to face the class, "Alright class, I'm your homeroom teacher Miss Chifuyu Orimura, it's my job to train you well enough to stand on your feet in one year."

This… just keeps getting better and better, now IS training will be done by the 'drill sergeant from hell'… The line that comes to mind, 'and there was much rejoicing, yea'! Perhaps there will be some interesting scenes to see, who knows? The girls in the class, which was pretty much all excluding myself and one other girl that kind of reminded me of someone, just can't put my finger on who though. Then there was also, one other in the classroom that reacted differently from the others, it was a girl who had long blonde hair with curls at the ends and blue eyes. The rest of the females in the room screamed, in I would guess excitement. It was likely that they didn't know what Chifuyu could be like if you got her mad. I have seen that only once and that was more than enough to know; if you're the one who caused Chifuyu to be mad… run run as fast as you can!

"Oh its lady Chifuyu, that's really lady Chifuyu" said one girl.

"The one who inspired me to come to this school from Kita Kyushu! I'd die for you!" said another.

Chifuyu just sighed, "It's amazing how many nut jobs come to this school every year. Do they put all the loonies in my class on purpose?" Commented Chifuyu

You are certainly not alone in that Chifuyu. I'm more surprised that you tolerate this kind of thing… Never would have before that I knew of. The girls upon hearing this, just screamed some more.

"Lady Chifuyu, scold us more! Cuss us out!" said a girl.

"Train us so we don't misbehave." Another girl said.

Shaking my head at the stupid actions of 'my classmates'; I sighed, missing those I'm used to studying with around now! _'These girls really need to have a reality check! The person they're idolizing isn't like they think she is. Not to say Chifuyu isn't nice from time to time, but when she snaps… I ain't going to be around to watch!'_ Well, I get a teacher that will make her students work for their grade; not new, I have had some professors like that, so it will be fine. "This will be interesting to have you as a teacher Chifuyu."

Chifuyu turned to face me, flexing her hand together a very bad sign which caused me to stiffen a bit and get my guard up.

"So have the instruction regarding addressing your instructor not taken yet?" She demanded.

Sighing at the inquiry I answered, "Well Chifuyu, it's not like formality has ever been a huge thing between us…"

I didn't finish as Chifuyu's right hand came at me and I once again grabbed it to prevent it from doing harm to me.

"You're… stronger than before… I like… means more of a challenge Chifuyu." I whispered so that only Chifuyu would hear me.

"That's Miss Orimura right?" said Chifuyu in the threatening tone she used when she was getting a point across. The force from her hand doubled and I buckled a bit under her strength.

Maybe this won't be as bad as I originally thought it would be; "Sure, _Miss_ Orimura …" I grunted out. Still, I didn't back down to Chifuyu at all; making sure she knew I wouldn't be a push over.

The girls gasped at that, "What? You mean that Taichi knows lady Chifuyu on a friendly basis?", asked one.

"I wonder if that has something to do with the fact that he is the only male in the world who can control an IS." said another.

That's a question that I don't intend to answer for anyone. Have had enough interrogation done to me by various agencies of the US government to last me a lifetime! All because the metal eared bi**h set me up to take the fall for crap she pulled.

"That's enough." called Chifuyu, her way of getting order hasn't changed I see.

Everyone went quiet at that and listened to Chifuyu and she went on, "Your syllabus for the next six months begins with memorizing all data concerning the IS. After that practical training, where you'll have two weeks to master the basic maneuvers. So, have you got that? Even if you don't; say yes ma'am."

The girls answer her of course by saying, "Yes Ma'am."

Like I thought and expected when I looked into this, an easy A for me. I know more than is written in the manual… actually wrote a bit of it as well, under an alias of course.

Miss Yamada then went on and started the lesson, "Now, as I'm sure you're all aware, IS actually stands for Infinite Stratos. It's a multi-form suit originally developed in Japan." Began Miss Yamada.

Believe that most kids know what IS means, though technically, it wasn't exactly developed in Japan as history says it was. The bunny, doll and I did the work on an island to the south of Japan that's in Japanese territory. The location of the island is classified and so no one actually knows where it is… other than those who have been there, which isn't a large number. So, to save face with the general public, it's just said that the IS was developed in Japan.

"When it was first conceived eight years ago it was originally designed to be used in outer space. However, those ideas are currently on hold." Our sub-homeroom teacher continued.

Yeah… I wanted to go along the path of space application, but I kind of got out voted by the Rabbit and the Sister doll. They said there were far more interesting uses and… well yeah, that was the end of that.

Our teacher kept going, "Due to the Alaska Treaty the IS is also prohibited from being used by the military. Therefore, it's used solely for competitions and sporting events, and our IS Academy is the only educational institution in the world established with the objective of training IS pilots."

It's a good thing that the Alaska Treaty was written up and instated, I wouldn't want to see the development war that the IS would have gone through. Let's just say it would be far worse than the competition that goes on with companies that do IS development. Although, I don't think that the competitions are much better or different from a 'war', really the only difference is that there are more set rules with the competition than you would have with military development and application.

"Students from all around the world come to this school where young people from a multitude of different countries get to live, work and study side by side everyday as they hone and perfect their piloting skills. So, starting today let's all study hard over the next three years." Finished Miss Yamada.

Though I'm kind of worried about doing this for three years or more… if I get my way, I'll be out of here before the end of the semester. We'll see how things play out for the time being.

"Yes Ma'am." Said the girls in the class collectively.

So to recap, absolutely nothing I don't already know. Like I said before, an easy A class and I do so love those, let's me catch up on other things. And as I have class work for other classes that are for the college degree I'm working for, I'll need the time. Perhaps this won't be as horrible as I originally thought it was going to be when I was first forced into this.

-Scene change-

The first class had ended… boring as hell if you ask me, but then most easy A classes have a tendency to be. My mood didn't change much. The only real complaint I could make, I was having trouble not falling asleep and not just doing something else that would occupy my time. Then, there were still some girls staring at me rather than paying attention to the lesson and I could feel them doing so. Wonder how long it will be before I'll get dragged off by a girl and not come back from the one who dragged me off and having lost some things that I would rather not lose, with how things are going. _'This is going to be a very long semester!'_ As I wasn't deaf, I could clearly hear the girls and what they had been saying about me everywhere.

"Look that's him he is the only guy in the world that can use an IS." Said a female voice.

It took effort to not turn around and tell them to mind their own d**n business, but I resisted. Being one of the two secret test pilots for the Infinite Stratos as well as one of the three creators, has never been easy and revealing such a fact would be a serious mistake. It would ruin the 'normal' life I have worked Hard for… Well, as normal as I get. I saw in my peripheral vision that there are girls plastered to the glass windows between the classroom and the hallway and all were staring at yours truly. This is one of the reasons I don't go into the subject of IS outside of class at the university; questions are asked I would rather not answer, tend to come up. Can't I get some slack cut for me here. _'Do I have to be the subject of everyone's discussion?'_

"I heard that he operated an IS during his entrance exam." Said one.

Please… no! Don't bring up that fiasco to the table of gossip d**n it! You see, before I left the good old US of A; I had been required to go through by government officials… more a formality, to do an 'entrance exam' as I would be coming to this academy with the United States' backing. With the exam… if you can call it that, was short at least. Felt sorry and a tad guilty for the woman that had been my proctor… I really do. Seriously, I didn't mean to beat her as efficiently as I did… Anyway, was sitting in my seat trying to ignore what the girls were saying, not an easy task let me tell you. It's understandable that girls talk about everything, seen it at the university, _'Do the girls have to talk about me when I am in the room, as if I am not here?'_ I thought.

"Yeah it was big international news." Said another girl.

' _Yeah don't remind me of the d**n press, haven't left me in peace, until I talked to the campus security and members of the administration and they were escorted off the campus!'_ Having been on news was horrible in itself; would make me late for things and then I would have to apologize for that. Reporters and journalist showing up day and night to ask questions I had no intention to answer. Had to get a restraining order for one or two of them to get them to go away! Now this, why is the Bunny doing this to me? If it is to see my project, then she will be patient and wait until I'm f**king good and ready … that woman irks me so!

"So he did come to this school after all?" Said yet another girl.

Not by choice, rest assured! If I wasn't being threatened by something extremely embarrassing by one of the select few who actually have material to do such low and wrong things; then I would be at Cornell University studying far more interesting things. This is more of a reminder of I faced back in high school; stressful and very bored.

"You should go talk to him." A fourth girl suggested.

No thanks at the moment, let those teenage hormones settle down and then I might consider it. Answer is still probably going to be no, but I'll think about it at least a little. "Maybe I should." Said the third voice.

"Wait a minute! Are you trying to get ahead of us?" Said the second voice.

… Teenage girls are weird creatures and I don't think I'll ever understand them; this is getting stupid! Not only do I detest gossip and am the subject of it in this instance; now things are heading in a direction that I become less gentlemanly with. I'm not some kind of playboy and have no intention to be one in the future, I have no interest. Hell, would bet that the females here don't see me as an equal… Maybe not even having the same standing as a human being. _'Well then, when you want something done, then do it yourself, as the phrase goes.'_ I decided. Putting my supplies and books into my bag, I stood up, planning to leave the classroom and make myself scares for a while to relax. Yet, I was stopped before I could do so, by one of my classmates coming up to me.

The girl's height was approximately five foot three. She had long hair that was colored a dark purple that had a tint of brown. Her hair went down past her waist and was tied into a ponytail with a green ribbon and her hair seemed to naturally split into two separate tails. My gaze halted for a moment on her chest and can anyone really blame me? This 'classmate' of mine, was well-endowed when it came to her bust… I estimate the size to be around a Healthy D… actually, I'm leaning more towards an E… they weren't small, let's just leave it at that. The clothing this girl was sporting was the standard academy's uniform, which was made up of a white top blazer similar to what I'm required to wear, that had embroidery that was red. The blazer was more like a trench coat that stops at her mid-thighs than a blazer the longer I look at it. The cuffs at the end of the sleeves of the coat, begin at the wrists and are red and have three inch slits on the outsides. There was a 'belt' or whatever you want to call it, sat at the waist. The coat ended at her mid-thighs and had a black inch thick stripe at the bottom. She was wearing thigh high socks and mid-calf length boots. To top this all off, the dress shirt she had under the coat had a blue ribbon tied around the neck instead of a tie like I'm forced to wear, but serves the same purpose. However, the most notable feature right now, would be her dark blue eyes, which were staring at me.

No idea why this classmate is approaching me, never met her before… Yet there is somehow an element of familiarity with this female. I can't place the feeling of slight déjà vu I was getting; 100% certain that I've never met the girl. Deciding to break the ice with a greeting, that's exactly what I did. "Hello Miss, is there something you wanted?" I asked.

"Can we talk for a minute?" She asked in returned.

I blinked at the question; it's not that I haven't talked to girls or anything, just didn't think that any of the girls here would be this forward on day one. So, to this classmate, I applaud her courage… or I would if I wasn't so stressed as I am right now. It's been so long since I've spent time around my same aged peers… I haven't been able to predict behavior with the teenage females here, like I normally can with other people. I think… I'm missing something with this girl, but I'm not entirely sure. Well… I suppose as a gentleman, I should humor this girl since she put forth the effort to request a chat. In response, I nodded and gestured for her to lead the way to wherever she had in mind to have our talk. I just hope it isn't in a locked room, I would be doing what was needed for me to escape!

This Teenage female, whose name I still haven't gotten or heard, led us to the roof. Likely this was in the hopes to have some private conversation without a gaggle of girls listening in, to which I agree. Nevertheless, on the roof, she just leaned up against the rails that lined the roof of this building, whereas I stood in the middle of the roof. There was an awkward silence in the air, which I broke first, "So, still haven't gotten your name miss, care to inform me?"

"Umm." She mumbled.

Waiting in the hope that the single sound wasn't the only thing I would get as a reply, yet, nothing is what I got for this teenage girl. Guess that leaves getting this conversation going up to me then. Thankfully, I have acquired my experience during my near two years at Cornell University, of how to have a conversation with members of the opposite gender. Many of the female students knew of me, or had heard of me; after all, I was years younger from the rest of the student body and so was a subject of conversation among fellow students there.

"As you probably heard, my name is Sai Taichi, and you would be?" I stated leaving the question open for her to supply her name.

She looked at me with, … was the shyness! That was kind of surprising, this girl hadn't seemed the shy type, mainly as she approached me by her own free will. She sighed and looked away from me. This is just getting more awkward by the second… still she reminds me of… someone that I just can't think of the name for at the moment… maybe the hair color? Purple isn't common… it's nothing against her, I just detest the color purple… it's all the bunny's fault I hate the color purple! … Wait… Didn't the hasenpfeffer mention a few times that she had… No, no that's just ridiculous. This girl can't possibly… Okay, maybe she could, but it's unlikely that she's family of the Rabbit. Such were the thoughts I was having right now as I waited to hear the name of this girl.

"My name is… Houki Shinonono." She answered me.

… D**n! That doesn't help in proving me right of her not being related to the hasenpfeffer that's such a pain in my a**! Please… please, for once, let this be a coincidence! Don't let her be related to that woman who destroyed my plans for schooling and made my life more difficult! … Oh who am I kidding? The purple hair may be darker, but it still has purple like the d**n hasenpfeffer! No… control… must not lose control… calm down… Ah, there we go, confirm fact before accepting it as truth.

"Uh… I'm sorry, did you say Shinonono? Like as in… possibly being related to… _Tabane_ Shinonono that… scientist who created Infinite Stratos?" I asked in a flat tone, biting my tongue a bit when I spoke the bunny's actual name.

Years ago, I had stopped calling the bunny by her name that she had from birth. To me, she didn't deserve to be addressed by an individually identifying name, with all the things she's done. So, I had called her, bunny, rabbit and the other derogatory terms that insult the metal bunny ears she always wears. It's similar with the life sized doll, with some of the crap both of them have pulled, more with the rabbit, I rarely call her or refer to her by her given name anymore. Granted, the porcelain doll… No, Alice; has better standing with me than the hasenpfeffer does. The doll hasn't popped up and messed things up for me and then disappears, leaving me to clean up the mess that was created.

But, enough about the two women that shook up my life, Houki looked at me in slight shame and annoyance, and nodded. I was right then, great… That raises the query, did the bunny blackmail me and blow my school plans to smithereens, for the sole purpose that she wanted me to meet her little sister or something like that! … If that's the truth, I'll add it to the tab I'll be collecting from her in the near future when I hunt her down like I should've done when I got off the phone with the bi**h! The only reason that I haven't done just that… is that bi**h is very good at making her hiddie hole hard to find! Plus, as I have already paid for the semester… it would be a waste to not use it to test out my IS unit. I have been looking for an opportunity to test it. So, I'll bide my time and wait for the optimal time to get my vengeance, the bunny will learn that payback is a vicious bi**h!

Although I felt unkind to the rabbit, my interest was piqued by the expression on Miss Shinonono's face, she isn't too happy with her foolish and meddlesome metal eared bunny she has as a sister either. I completely understand the feeling and now I feel pretty guilty that I made my assumption based upon her sister that has screwed me from time to time. She doesn't deserve to be judge her by what her sister has done, it wouldn't be fair as the hasenpfeffer doesn't care about anyone but herself. "My condolences for having… her as a sister; it's gotta be rough."

She appeared shocked at the mention of the idiotic bunny. "Wait you know my sister Tabane?" Miss Shinonono demanded.

If only she knew… The things that d**n bunny has put me through… Heck just some of the things the hasenpfeffer had done alone, the world doesn't know and would throw her in prison without hesitation. That woman has all but destroyed the… relationship we once had! Whenever the bunny pops back up in my life, chaos and trouble ensues! I don't want to recall them anymore as they only get worse the more recent the time. And, if I go by how the rabbit acts and translate it into intent, she doesn't even see what she does as bad or harmful… or doesn't care! … Of course, I can't tell her the truth. To say that I once worked with that sister of hers and am one of the three that actually created the IS; add to that, the metal eared bunny just took all the credit. Can't say the doll nor I really had interest in fame and glory like the bunny seemed to, but that's complicated.

"We've met… so, I know your sister in a way." I said hesitantly.

"Do you know where she is?!" demanded Miss Shinonono.

Not happy at all with her sister, don't blame her in the slightest! I wish I knew where the dumb bunny is… if I did, then I wouldn't be standing here! Would be chasing her down and delivering her just desserts! "No, can't say that I do know where your sister is…" I muttered the rest of what I was thinking, "wish I did. I have things to discuss with her, but that's a different matter." I was holding back the anger I felt towards the metal eared bunny right now.

Miss Shinonono didn't appear to hear my muttered threat against the rabbit, she bowed to me before she spoke again, "My apologies, please let me introduce myself again. My name is Houki Shinonono, I look forward to being able to study alongside you."

I returned the gesture, "The same to you Miss Shinonono."

"Please, just call me Houki." Said Miss Shinonono, I noted that her cheeks were showing a tint of pink now.

"If you want then, Houki." Was my reply.

She smiled at me when I called her by her name. Admittedly from a second look, her height, though a little taller than average for the girls our age around here, fits her somehow. Houki is fit, perhaps does some kind of sport and then her bust… well, I have seen her size on some college aged girls, but not on those my age! She has quite an amount of potential, that's for sure. Unlike my original assumptions before getting, not all the girls are going to be a threat to me as females. She seems to be a nice enough girl, nice to know there are some of those kind of girls here too. Houki looked at me as if she wants to say more to me. I looked expectantly back at her giving her my attention, but she turned away. The wind blew making her hair sway; made Houki look quite pretty to be honest. The bell rang then for the late morning class.

"Well, school bell is a calling." I said nonchalantly.

I started towards the door and Houki followed behind me. I hope that I have made at least a possible new friend, or at least someone to talk to.

-Scene change-

"Okay does anyone have any question so far?"

' _Oh teacher… teacher, I have one! Why am I being tortured with sheer boredom? Is it cool with you if I take a snooze until lunch? I won't disturb the class, I promise.'_ I should curtail my thoughts, but that's what I think of the material thus far. I'm just smart enough not to say it out loud with Chifuyu here, would have consequences to pay if I say stuff like that. As much as I love a good workout; I still have two lectures this afternoon to attend. Everything Miss Yamada had said, was information that I knew like the back of my hand and then some. Heck, at the University, I'm working with advanced theories that are still not close to ready for application with an IS. So the basics of an IS is remedial review and is really boring!

With the work I did with designing and inventing the Infinite Stratos, the things I know about it isn't small. I got to watch and discuss at times the Hyper Sensor with the doll as she did a major portion of the designing of that system. I admit, the bunny could probably out do me in knowledge of the Passive Inertia Control. However, on the energy shield, neither the doll or the bunny know the ins and outs like I do. I came up with the principles of how they work and design, doing a lot of the fine tuning on the prototypes. … Could be doing college class work and use my time more effectively… or planning what work I could do on my project… But no, I get to sit in this seat and listen to information that I could teach better than the teacher at the front of the class!

This was frustrating, I could nap and not miss a thing… I would do just that, if it weren't for the black haired hawk watching in the front corner of the room! There would be no peaceful snoozing with Chifuyu on watch…d**n it! Don't mistake this for fear of Chifuyu; it's not. I would rather not have to have a full out fight with her right now and then still have to attend a two-hour lecture and then an hour and a half lecture following afterwards. It wouldn't go well for me!

"Do you have any questions Taichi?" Asked Miss Yamada.

I was brought out of thoughts and I looked up to see Miss Yamada. My homeroom teacher is a nice lady and everything, I can't deny that; even cares about her students enough to ask specific ones if they understand the material. Which, just makes it all that much harder to tell her the truth of what I think of her lesson… "Not a one ma'am; understand the subject matter completely." I replied evenly.

It cases like this, best to just be nice and not say what you really think. "Well if you do have any question just ask me okay, I am your teacher after all." The green haired woman returned to me.

I thought that was the end of that, yet, I was very wrong. "Taichi!" Came a bark.

Shifting my glance over to _Miss_ Orimura I gave my answer, "Yes… Miss Orimura?"

Oh, did I get a cold glare for the tone in which I replied in. … Me thinks, I'm about to do something I'm going to face a consequence for. Past experience say so, that's usually a good judge of what could happen with my 'big sister'.

"As you seem to understand the class material so well; then answer a question for me." Said Chifuyu.

… Chifuyu is well aware that I know more about the IS than anyone in this room if not this school, as I worked on the IS… So, she's daring me to be an idiot and humiliate myself in front of the class then? Why does she insist on doing such things to some people, and to me no less, her 'little brother'? You would think she'd be nice… but no, not really; Chifuyu is all about not showing favoritism to anyone. "Go right head Miss Orimura, fire away." I replied calmly.

The room was so silent you could have heard a pin drop clearly. This silence isn't helping me feel comfort at this time… quite the opposite actually. My said Professor started walking towards me… I don't like her advancing towards me… Chifuyu hits always hurt bad and I don't want to find out if she's stronger than last time. When will the fun ever stop for me?!

"Taichi, name the four components to an IS, and their basic functions." Stated Chifuyu.

… That's it?! And here I thought it would be a hard question, but then, there aren't many 'hard' question for me when it comes to the subject of the IS. "As you wish, Miss Orimura." I cleared my throat before I began my answer, "The first component to an IS is the core, or as it's also referred to as, the black box as no one knows how it actually makes an IS able to function. But the core is what makes the unit work as it does. Second component is the energy barrier or shield, which protects the pilot's life and will stay active as long as it has power. Third, the Mandatory unlock, that comes into play when an IS reaches a heavy level of damage and then the mandatory unlock deactivates the IS unit, therefore protecting the pilot. And fourth, the Preset, which is the standard equipment that an IS unit has. Is that enough ma'am or would you like more detail? Or perhaps I answered incorrectly?" I answered as if I was quoting a textbook.

WHACK!

A sharp pain spread from where an object hit the back of my head. Ow… that one hurt! I had answered the question as she stated it, so why did Chifuyu throw her teacher's binder at me?! And what did she have lining that binder anyway? Steel sheets?! _'What kind of woman who is supposed to be a teacher would chuck a possibly dangerous object at one of her own students?'_ I was rubbing my throbbing head as I glared back at Chifuyu, "Is this part of a new reward system for answering questions correctly ma'am? If so, it doesn't inspire motivation to answer questions right Miss Orimura." I kept the spite out of my voice as I said this.

"No, that was being tempted to nod off during class." Said Chifuyu.

How did she…? … Shrewd as ever, that's Chifuyu for you. Okay, point taken, no snoozing in class. "Yeah, I got it; no napping during class, yes ma'am." I mumbled back.

And so, class continued like it had a few minutes ago.

"Well then let's continue with class. Please turn to page 12 in your textbooks."

Like I said before, it's going to be a long semester!

-Scene change-

Man this day was just turning into one of the more grueling days I've had in quite a while… to think that this is only the first day of the school year here… Sighing before taking out my textbook for my calculus II course, I began looking over the introduction and table of contents as the math course is the subject for my second lecture this afternoon. Distracting the mind off the current situation I was consigned to, would hopefully help relieve the elevated stress levels that I had gained today. Plus, it's a habit of being proactive for me with college work to look over a textbook at the beginning. I sat in my seat fiddling with my pencil absentmindedly for the study time there was still left in this class period. Lunch is after class, thank God! A much needed break before my afternoon lectures. Doing school like this is going to be a challenge, but I'm up for it!

"May I have a moment?" said a female voice.

Brought out of studying my textbook by being addressed, I glanced up and over to who had just spoken to me. And found myself looking at the blond girl in my class I had noticed before when the girls had been screaming over Chifuyu. Standing at five foot one, she had long hair that was solid blonde, which is rather rare here in Japan. Her hairstyle was unlike any other that I had seen, straight and long with weird curls that were like metal springs at the ends. … Wonder if that's natural or if she styles her hair that way… Don't know why you would, but to each their own. On her forehead was a blue headband that acted as a parting tool for the left and right side of her hair. Her bust was impossible to miss... And I thought Houki's bust was hard to imagine being natural, this blonde's chest was bigger! Hell, makes you wonder where she got the genes for getting that size of chest… more out of just casual scientific interest from my standpoint.

The girl's uniform was a bit of a variation for the normal girl's uniform. Like Houki, had the same white medium length trench like coat with the embroidery that was red. The coat had more increased space in the chest area for her bust I would assume than Houki's. The skirt portion, was longer than the other girls' uniforms as it went down to her knees, and there was some kind of black lace that was visible from a bit beyond the skirt itself. The young lady has tights or pantyhose that went beyond the bottom of her skirt rather than the thigh high socks that most of the other girls had. The blonde also had the blue ribbon tied around her neck. And her voice had a bit of an accent too, likely a foreigner.

"Well, that depends, if it doesn't cut into lunch time; then yes, you can have a moment." I answered curtly.

The look on her face didn't bode well for me, as it said that my reply apparently insulted her in some way. Something tells me that lunch will be shorter than average today… the afternoon's first lecture is going to be a hard one… Quantum Physics… love the subject, but it's a challenging one due to the work it requires.

"What sort of a response it that? You should be honored that I bothered speaking to you in the first place. Don't you think you should behave in an appropriate manner?" she shot back at me.

Oh no… please… please Lord, say it ain't so! She isn't one of those type of people, is she? She isn't an arrogant, aristocratic noble type?! I have never gotten along with them and some got close to fighting me. Perhaps it's the past that gives me the hind sight, to tell me that women for whatever it is about me, like to control and dominate me. I don't let them do so to me, doesn't stop them from trying though. Well might as well begin by getting her name and get this over with, as quick as possible.

"Look Miss, it's my first day, why any would expect me to know the names of anyone here without meeting them, I haven't the faintest clue. So then, what's your name?" I said frankly.

The expression of shock and horror was somewhat amusing to see on this blonde's face, can't deny that without lying through my teeth.

"You don't know who I am? I'm Cecilia Alcott, England's representative contender. The one who scored highest on the …" she began rambling.

Yep, I pegged her correctly. Clearly… she likes to hear herself talk and expects others to feel the same about her talking. The phrase that comes to mind is, "Tooting their own horn". Granted, with men not being able to pilot ISs, then I suppose some women might start to have a streak of pride so to speak. However, this I would say it's more the hormones running rampant for the case of Cecilia Alcott. Her being from England explains the accent and a Representative Contender to boot just adds to the pride and ego. I interrupted her, "Don't take this as rude…" I lowered my voice to a mutter, "Though I don't doubt you will somehow." I raised my voice back to normal volume, "But do you have a point that doesn't somehow say how great you supposedly are?"

"Of course there is a point, simpleton. And as it is the responsibility of nobles to answer queries from the lower classes…" She continued.

Miss Alcott kept going on in her rambling explanation that was as I had asked her not to do, saying how she is so great. You would think that this girl wouldn't know what humility is, if it slapped her in the face. This girl's pride is from what I could tell, inbred and taught to her as she grew up; the result, it's miles long by her blustering. From the way she acted to the way she talked, felt like she was flaunting that she was better than others. It was annoying and getting more so the longer I was forced to listen. I once again interrupted and cut in on her. "Apparently, you missed the last statement I said, is there anything that you have to say that DOESN'T inflate your pride and ego? If not, then would you please keep it to yourself." I asked, trying to make it sound nice.

There was dead silence in the room at my question. Miss Alcott was shaking at my question.

"This is unbelievable! I can only hope that every Japanese man is not this utterly devoid of knowledge. I mean it's nothing more than common sense, honestly." Said Miss Alcott in rather a disparaging tone.

Common sense? She knows what that is and/or has any? Haven't seen any yet, so I have my doubts. Her comment struck me close to home though. I may live in America, but Japan is the land that I feel kinship with and had heritage in and so I feel it is still my home land! Time to set the record straight… and put this blonde in her place!

"Listen up Miss Alcott, first of all, I'm an American and proud of it. Second, Japan is a wonderful place, clearly you haven't taken the time to experience the culture. Third, I have Japanese heritage so don't dis the country… that is, unless you're prepare to receive the same to your own country, Miss Blonde." I said with a tone that implied a dare.

The female teenager took umbrage to my reply, "You wouldn't dare!"

Oh… wouldn't I? I smirked a bit, "Try me, if you want and see."

For a second, it looked like she would take me up on my challenge. But she took deep breaths and calmed down. "An American you are indeed; it certainly fits one rude as you. I, who am a representative of Britain am one of the chosen elite, selected by their countries to represent them as IS pilots. And you are…" She said.

Oh ho, she sets herself up for retorts? Excellent, I'm starting to enjoy this a bit. This is why I'm rarely around others that are the same age as me, I don't play nicely with them for very long before I start treating them like children. Admittedly, I find amusement in teasing others that have egos and are arrogant… probably get it from Chifuyu. Plus, I have learned how to do vocal battling fairly well, learning the skill from college age people I'm around. "The representative contender for the United States of America." I stated as fact to make sure she didn't misunderstand what I said.

Blondie paused for a moment at my statement, "…That may be, but you are still a male and so, being a representative does not matter. I am one of the elite. It is a true miracle and your good fortune to get to be in the same homeroom with someone like me. Oh what an incredibly lucky boy you are. Did that get through that thick skull of yours, hmm?"

Really? Even though we have equal rank, just because I'm a guy, I'm less than her. (Sigh) Stroke your own ego much girl? This is just irking me in every way and I had more than enough by this point! The way she says miracle and good fortune; it would be better to pronounce it as, tragedy and misfortune to be in the same Homeroom as her and that I'm truly an unlucky boy. Now, to get her to go away and leave me alone… agree with her and not really pay attention. "Sure if you say so, I guess I'm lucky in a way." I said the line in a dismissive tone.

Let her just go away… this is a waste of time and I could be eating lunch. It's no longer worth humoring her and being nice any more. "Wait are you making fun of me now?" Miss. Alcott asked in slight irritation.

Well… she's a bit smarter than she looks, kind of distorts my picture of a dumb blonde… bet she'll restore it soon. "As I believe you just said, I'm lucky to have you talk to me. Now, please leave me alone and let me go get lunch." I tried to make this the final word, but alas… it isn't to be.

"No, this conversation is not done!" She said to me, raising her voice.

I held in a groan, with difficulty. This isn't a conversation, it's an ode to Cecilia Alcott and an insult to me. Still Miss Alcott continued in her tirade, "First of all, I would like to know how you managed to enter this school? Some nobody, from the United States, I heard that you're the only male who can control an IS, but you've been such a terrible disappointment!"

Ah ha, and so she restores the picture of a dumb blonde. If only I could say that I didn't even plan or want to come to this academy in the first place. I'm being blackmailed into being here by a woman who doesn't care about what happens to others due to her actions. As for being a nobody, the things I know about the IS… governments can only dream about knowing! Since the bunny nor doll won't tell them any details about the IS core, I see no reason to do so either. And a disappointment? Alcott is a first year in high school, I'm almost considered a third year in college by credit count, yet we're approximately the same age… enough said at this time! I interlocked my fingers, rested my elbows on the desk and rest my chin on my fingers.

"Since, I'm a gentleman Miss Alcott; I'll ignore your blatant insult aimed at me. I'll say this for you though, how unlady like of you to insult another and look down upon them." I said the comment in an emotionless tone.

Miss Alcott paused for a moment, "… In any case, since I'm so remarkable, I can still find it in my heart to be considerate towards people such as yourself. So, it you do have questions, I wouldn't mind answering them for you if you were to plead with tears in your eyes." I yawned as Blondie rambled, which she glared at me for, "… After all, I did defeat an instructor during the entrance exam, which means I am an elite among the elites."

I bit back the question of her having a heart, for she doesn't show it at all. Surprising that blondie knows what compassion is by the way she talks to others. Then defeating an instructor? I did so as well… and in a little over ten seconds too. "You done yet? Listening to you go on about how supposedly great you say you are, is grating on my patience and will put me to sleep given time. You say you defeated an Instructor? What did you do, bore them out perhaps like you're attempting to do to me? Don't be so high and mighty just because you did something that doesn't occur often. For your information, I defeated the exam instructor that I had as an opponent, in less than a minute. So, dismount that high horse that your pride and ego have been providing you and accept that you're not as exceptional as you think you are." I finished in the hopes that it will shush the Alcott so that I can go get lunch! I'm getting really hungry!

"Wait… what?!" She stuttered.

The female teenager moved to prevent me from leaving once more. NO! What is with this blonde girl?! I kept my expressionless face though I felt frustration was growing within me, "Yes, you heard right, I won against an instructor; now for the last time, move! I want to go have lunch and you are preventing me from doing so." I stated firmly.

This conversation is getting old and grating; I want no more part of it. This girl can keep rambling for all I care, I won't be around to have to listen to her do so!

"But … but I heard that I was the only one?" commented Miss Alcott.

I grumbled in frustration, at the continuing obstacle blocking my path to food! "Look, I've been more than generous with this talk and have given you much more than a moment, Miss Alcott. I bid you good day to you and take my leave." I stated this, and then moved the blonde aside and made my way out of the classroom.

I managed to get to the cafeteria, grabbed some lunch and found a booth that was empty. Although, it didn't last long, but it wasn't who I had escaped from; no, it was Houki Shinonono. Also during lunch, a member of the student council came up to the table and gave me a key card so that I could use one of the pieces of equipment here for school. Houki did give me a weird look when the student council member delivered the keycard, but she didn't ask me about it. There was a room here that could generate images and transmit them to a different location somewhere else in the world. For me specifically, the room will allow me to attend my lectures while I am here in Japan.

-Scene change-

Finally, at 4:30 in the afternoon my second and last lecture of the day ended. The first was quantum physics, a class I enjoyed and I like the professor. The other lecture was my calculus II course. I'll have two lectures every afternoon, just different subjects alternating days; for me, the school day was over. It may be a little early, but I headed back to the cafeteria and saw that the afternoon classes the girls in the school have weren't done yet, so I had the whole room to myself! Peace and quiet, even if for a brief moment; I'll take it! I grabbed dinner and chose a booth to sit at, taking my time to enjoy the quiet and peace I was getting at this time to the fullest. At the same time, going over the notes that I had taken in my physics lecture, a habit I developed during my first year in college, reviewing class notes especially for the more work involved classes. When the sound of multitudes of voices and looking up to the door, observed the female students pouring into the room. I just returned to reviewing and planning out time to do homework for my college courses based on what kind of work I had from my first two classes and manage everything I would need to do.

When I finish dinner, I discreetly left the cafeteria so that I wasn't noticed by the girls. The current task for me was to find my room that I was assigned. I glanced at the note I was given earlier today by Miss Yamada, which on it was the room number that I will be staying in while I was here. The next possible issue that I'm now coming to face, comes from the fact that rooms here aren't designed for single occupant use, but two. With me being the singular male… I can only have a female roommate. With the two of us being fifteen or sixteen-year-old teenagers with active hormones… this clearly will be a very risky venture. I just hope that whichever girl I will have as a roommate, will be one that won't cause more problems. While I may pride myself on having control over my libido… weak as it is, even I have limits to how much I can ignore it. I see no need to give the opportunity to a girl to get me into the sack and jump my bones because her hormones are out of control and she can't restrain herself being in the same room without being supervised! After going down a few hallways in the dorm building, I spotted the room number that I was looking for, room 1025.

I stood in front of the door for a moment, giving a silent prayer, "Please God, let me finally get some peace and quiet and not have girls attempting to flirt and more with me the majority of the day. … (Sigh) well, the moment of truth is here." I whispered to myself.

Reaching into my pants pocket with the room key in it, which I had been given with the note that had the room's number and I unlocked the door. Stepping into the dorm room cautiously, I scanned the room, taking it in. The room wasn't small per say; though college dorms are bigger, but the one I had been in had been meant to be shared with three people. There were two beds on the left side in the room with what appeared to be a pull out wood separator between them. That is good to have if or rather when the need of privacy arises, there will be a way to provide that. A large desk with two seats was against the right wall… workspace to use, yes, thank you! On either side of the desk, were dressers and space to the side of them between them and the wall; one for me and the other for I would think my roommate. Looking at the opposite side of the room, I saw that on the far side there was a glass door that I think led out to a balcony, a possible escape route should the need arise. All in all, a very nice room I must say, better than I had expected.

With the layout now taken in, the only thing left to be determined, was the identity of my roommate. As I haven't seen her, she is either not here at the moment, or there could be more to this dorm room than I have already seen and my new roommate is in a part I don't know about. Speaking of, I turned on the spot upon hearing the sound of running water cease with a squeak of a handle from behind me in the room I assume was the bathroom. … Fate is trying to bite my a** again! I do believe my roommate had been taking a shower when I entered the room and now is finished… this could get messy or just awkward.

"Is someone out there?" said a female voice.

Umm… that voice sounds kind of familiar, something to be determined later, more pressing things to keep in mind. I had the wisdom to turn back around, if a girl is coming out of the bathroom expecting another female; then she'll likely only have a towel wrapped around herself, that's if she had anything at all. I don't want to present the wrong impression of me being a pervert; for I'm not one! The d**n frisk rabbit and the overly sisterly doll had unintentionally made sure that I wouldn't have perverted tendencies.

"Oh hey, you must be my roommate. I look forward to having your company this year. Sorry I'm meeting you like this, but I just got out of the shower." Said the girl.

To say I felt a little uneasy would be untrue, as this is far from the ideal set of circumstances for a guy and a girl to meet. … Wait, hold the phone; that voice sounds more than just familiar… ah ha, so it's her then. Well, I can't say I feel good or bad about this, more neutral would be my view, at least I know her a bit before now. If she was my roommate for the moment, I think it would work out… Maybe. Let's hope she's not against this.

"My name is Houki Shino… nono…" Houki trailed off as I wouldn't doubt she took in who she was talking to even if I'm not facing her. Her gasping made that clear.

"Yes... I know your name Houki; you did tell me it earlier today. Please for goodness sakes, before you think about doing something that's meant to be harmful to me for being here, take note of some things. First, I'm being the respectful gentleman and not facing you so, I'm not staring at you with either a towel wrapped around your body or you in your birthday suit. Second, I had nothing to do with this arrangement, but seriously; no matter what, I would have a female roommate at this school being the only guy. Third… should you attack me; I'll be fighting back to defend myself… just so that you're forewarned. So the choice is yours Houki." I explained, in hopes that this wouldn't turn into something ugly.

Waiting to see how Houki would react to my presence and explanation; I stayed where I was for the moment. The silence deepened and the anticipation mounted as neither I, nor Houki moved from where we had frozen. Unable to stand the silence anymore, I sidestep and moved to the nearest bed to the door and face the wall so that I couldn't see the rest of the room, "Houki, now would be a good time to go get clothes on. You're pretty and everything, but… this is just awkward for both of us." I said flatly.

I heard a rush of movement behind me that was a mixture of footfalls and the faint rubbing of cloth… so then, I guess Houki was in a towel. Easy to know that Houki had rushed to the dresser to get something to put on. Waiting for her to get dress, I shut out the sounds of clothes rubbing against skin. I held the reins of the urges that were my libido and kept them from having their way. I needed none of it and would have none of it!

"Okay… I'm dressed now…" Houki said.

Turning around slowly to face Houki, I was relieved to see that she was decent, I exhaled heavily to ease my mood. Houki was now wearing a light weight yukata that was colored magenta and had a pink sash tied between her waist and hips. Making my way over to the desk, I pulled out the chair and sat down. "Did you somehow request this?" asked Houki softly as she kept staring at me.

Sighing, before looking away from the girl in the room before giving my reply, "I believe I said that I had nothing to do with this arrangement, Houki. Nor do I have nothing particularly against this arrangement; nevertheless, should you have a problem, then I will seek out the dorm manager and tell her that I'll need to switch rooms, whomever she is."

Half expected to hear Houki saying something along the lines of, start hauling my rear out of this room and never come back, the other half I have no idea. But as the lack of sound went on, I was beginning to get curious on Houki's reaction. I glance over at her and was put off and unnerved, she was blushing and noticeably red now and she wasn't looking at me. "Um… Houki, do you or do you not have a problem with sharing a room with me?" I couldn't help but ask her.

I've gotten girls to blush by my words and actions, so that's not new. But Houki was once again acting shy, and it wasn't just that, she was also showing signs of being fond of me even though we had met earlier today and that was unexpected to me. I mean sure, there have been some girls that I had gone on dates with that had been very taken with me, but none had exactly done all the things Houki Shinonono had thus far. "I…" the sound came out of Houki's mouth, but that was all that I heard.

I waited patiently for the purple haired female to say what she was trying to say. "I… I have… no problem w-with sharing a room… with you." She stuttered out.

I smiled in response to her admittance. Things may not be the most ideal or easiest for me here at the IS academy, but perhaps they could be manageable enough that I can get through this and still be okay afterwards. "That's good, it's been a hectic day and I was hoping for it to come to a close in a quiet manner." I said taking a breath before continuing, "So, since you're the lady, which bed would you prefer? I'll give you first choice."

Houki pointed to the bed closest to the window and I nodded. Taking the time to unpack my things that had already been brought to the room, taking care to bring out my personal computer terminal that I built with a friend at Cornell. It's what I used for school and most of all, it was the system I used in the design and programing of my life's work, which happens to be my custom IS unit… should have mentioned it earlier I guess. By the text message I got during dinner, my machine had finally gotten through customs and was on the way here; hopefully be here by the weekend so that I could finish the programing. The need for me to have it operating is coming and I'm running low on time I feel. Once I finished unpacking, I took a set of clothes and headed into the bathroom to change for bed. I spotted on my way a bag on Houki's side of the room. In that bag was kendo equipment, such as a shinai and bokutō along with I assume the armor pieces used in kendo. Interesting… I have a respect for those who practice an art of combat. I myself, practice martial arts like Chinese Hung Fut and Japanese Jujutsu, plus a little Karate. I smiled slightly as I went into the bathroom to change.

When I had changed into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, I exited the bathroom and came to sit on my bed. Out of the corner of my eye, I still noted that Houki was still blushing to an extent, even if she was trying to hide it. As we now have the time… I think we need to establish rules of the room that we are sharing. "So Houki, as long as we're sharing the same room; I think that it would be a wise idea for us to have some ground rules, wouldn't you agree?" I asked with a bit of a smile.

"Ground rules?" was the reply that came from Houki.

Well, that led to a small discussion and establishment of ground rules. Some rules were common sense I would think and I had no issues with them. Rules like, not changing our clothes in front of each other or, not going through one another's things without permission. Then there were others that weren't as sensible; for instance, the was the rule on time of using the shower. Houki said that she wanted to use it from 7 to 8 in the evening, leaving me to have use from 8 to 9. The reasoning she gave was that she didn't feel relaxed in the kendo clubroom and so she wanted to use our room's shower. However, that put me in a bit of a pickle, the room's toilet was the only one that wasn't labeled as a woman's room available to me, so yeah…

Actually at that point in the discussion, I believe Houki got the wrong idea and thought I liked and wanted the opportunity of going into a female's restroom with girls possibly being inside, which I wasn't. Still, I managed to put my guard up when Houki went for her bokutō. I leapt off my bed and shifted into a defensive stance I would use in jujutsu. Gave me excellent footing to be able to twist out of the path of the wooden sword's swings. After five swings from Houki, I shifting to a Hung Fut stance and moving forward sent my left palm into Houki's midsection causing her to stop ever so briefly. That time was all that I needed, and so I rushed forward and grabbed her right arm with both hands. Switching over to jujutsu martial art style, I leaned forward, lifted Houki and flipped her over my shoulder and onto her bed. Spinning around and following her path I ended out pinning her to the bed. "I did tell you that I would fight back should you attack me. As it happens, I know a few forms of martial arts… if the techniques I just did, don't prove that." I informed Houki, before I let her up from pinning her down.

"I'm sorry I…" she said.

I cut off Houki to stop her from apologizing for something she doesn't need to, "Houki, there is no need for you to apologize. However, in my defense; I'm not a pervert and don't plan to become one anytime in the future. Rest assured of that, such acts with the intent that instigates them, sicken me, for a couple of reasons."

I walked over to my bed and plopped down onto it, settling down into the blankets. The lights were turned off and Houki and I settled in to sleep for the night. "Good night Houki" I said into the dark.

"Good night, Sai" was the answer I heard.

 **A/N**

 **Okay, so if you didn't notice Ichika isn't in this story. He's dead and that won't change. So my character, Sai Taichi is the main protagonist. Please write a review and tell me what you think of this story idea.**


	2. My IS Unit

**A/N**

 **I don't own any of the Infinite Stratos stuff and so it is not mine to claim credit for. I just like to muse about this subject for the time being. I hope you like this enjoy.**

Chapter 2

My 'IS' Unit

The next morning came and I woke up a little after 6 AM like I have been for a while now out of habit. I turned and glanced over at the other bed in the room, seeing that Houki was still fast asleep. So, discreetly slipped out of bed and exited the room, to begin my day with a morning jog as I have done, for time to think as much as exercise for years. The jog ended out being three kilometers in total by the time I was done and had been a forty-five-minute time lapse. Was feeling fairly good from the jog when I got back to the room; I grabbed some clean clothes, I headed straight to the bathroom. It was ten till seven and Houki was still sleeping like I had left her as, so the bathroom was free and I'll make use of it. I took care to keep quiet, so not to wake my roommate as that would be rude. After I stepped out of the hot shower… Mercy some mornings I'm telling you, got dressed and made myself ready for the day. By the time I finished my business and exited the bathroom, I noticed that Houki was waking up, "Morning Houki, about time you wake up, don't want to be late for class; plus, probably would be nice for you to get breakfast before that." I greeted her.

Going over to the desk, I started loading up my school bag with the supplies for the day as I try not to return to my place of residence if I don't have to. These supplies included; the IS manual, which was more a paper weight to me, along with two books for my college lectures for today. As today is Tuesday, the lectures of the day are Theories and Applications of Nanotechnology and Advanced Prosthetics. Weekday college classes fit into between a four-and-a-half-hour period, which was the whole afternoon. Where Monday, Wednesday and Friday lectures had the format of the first lecture was almost three hours and the second was an hour and a half, Tuesday and Thursday lectures were both two and a quarter hour classes. The reason for both being longer on my Tuesday and Thursday lectures were because I have them only two days a week instead of quantum physics and calculus that I have three days a week. The courses I'm taking may seem random, they are not. The studies of the subjects I am taking, are all for work and advancing my IS that I'm working on.

The metal eared bunny may be satisfied with playing the game she does with the governments of the world with the IS, which will eventually get her into trouble. Yet, my interest is to find out just how far the idea of a 'suit' can be pushed and that has been my goal the whole time. I think the doll has something else in mind… I don't know her; I wouldn't want to see inside her mind. Nonetheless, the three of us who created the IS don't really talk to each other since we went our separate ways. I've spoken with the doll every once and a while, but as we have a kind of an unofficial competition between the three of us, we rarely discuss what we're working on. The d**n bunny tries to break that unspoken rule, like she is with getting me here just to see my work, but that's what she does.

After packing my bag, I left on the hunt for food, which brought me to the cafeteria; where I found the object of my hunt, food! Breakfast, one of the more important meals of the day and I refuse to miss it unless there is a d**n good reason… there aren't many reasons I would consider good! Didn't take me long to get the food I sought and with breakfast in hand and with my heavily laden tray. Did get the lunch ladies to smile piling my tray with food… wonder if that means the girls here don't eat the amounts that I do. After searching for a bit, I found a booth and sat down to eat. As I ate I took out my Nanotech textbook and started looking it over as I would have my first lecture for the class this afternoon. It was a class I had wanted to take for a little while now as it would have great application potential. I've already learned the hard way, it is better to get and have an understanding of a subject I work with or you'll pay a price, mostly due to an incident. For this subject, the application is quite simple; the IS already uses microscopic machines in their deployment and operation, I believe that the performance can be improve with nanotech. But I simply don't know enough about the subject to logically take the risk of using such ideas just yet.

I heard the voices of the first year students talking and… What do you know, I'm the topic of their discussions? Shaking my head and ignoring the girls that were whispering about me, instead returning to reading my textbook with increasing interest the longer I looked over the material. The initial possibilities were obvious to me, but still I could already see areas of interest in this class that I would be taking serious notes and learning a lot. That's before I apply this idea to my project, which I look forward to! A few possibilities would be such things like; an automatic repair mode or sequence or perhaps morphing or shifting armor. I've been working on a rendition of 'shifting armor' but it's not working as I envisioned and I haven't figured out how to change it to get it to work the way I want. However, with nanoscopic machines and the potential they have, I may get it to work the way I wish… It's feasible. The difficulty is the method of control and giving them clear enough commands for them to carry out orders they are given.

The sound of a tray being set down got me to shift my attention upward and seeing that Houki had just set a tray of food down on the table and she wasn't looking directly at me for some reason. "Um… Houki, you're free to sit at the same table as me without me needing to give permission to you." I said a little baffled at the way Houki was acting. Was I really so intimidating to others here?

Houki took a seat after I told her she could sit at the table. After she sat down, I returned my attention back to my textbook and continued eating as I read. Hadn't been looking at the book for more than fifteen seconds when I was interrupted once again. "Excuse me?" said an unfamiliar female voice.

I looked up a second time to see a group of three girls, who I think are classmates of mine, "Yes ladies?"

The three girls were, following a second look definitely in my class; the one on the left stood at a height of about four-foot nine. She had dark pink colored hair that went to her shoulders and a little beyond, the majority of her hair hung free, at least of what amount of her hair was visible. The girl was wearing a long yellow sleeping shirt… which look a little like a one-piece dress, rather than the academy uniform like everyone else in the cafeteria was. Said long sleeping shirt, had orange cuffs on the sleeves, the collar as well and… on edge the hood that was a part of the sleeping shirt. The hood had what looked like fox like ears coming out of the hood… no idea why a piece of clothing would have such things. There were two balls of cotton on the ends of draw cords for the hood, perhaps for decoration. The sleeping shirt went down to her knees, but still hugged her figure. Her hands were covered by the sleeves; and then her bust would be, to my guess, a solid C in size. From what I could see of her eyes, they were yellow… an interesting color that's rare to see.

The female on the right of this group, was four-foot eleven. Her hair was a dark red mixed with a bit of brown, it had the length that went to her ears in all but the back. Whereas in the back, she had two separate ponytails that went down her back on both sides of her neck and were tied with small green ribbons. The girl was wearing the academy uniform, the standard version that most of the girls here wear. Her eyes were brown; she had a bit lean figure, a bust that was a B in size. The classmate in the middle of the group of three; had black long hair that went midway down her back. She had a hair clip to keep the right portion of her hair from being over her right eye, the clip was orange. With her dark grey eyes that were almost black, she stood five feet even in height. She had average female figure, her bust was along the size as her friend on the right, a B by my observation. It was the one in the middle that spoke up, "Well, we were curious… do you mind if we sit at this table?"

"Uh… sure, have a seat girls." I replied.

The three girls glanced at each other and looked happy about my answer to their request, after which they took seats at the table. I decided to break the ice by asking their names, "So girls, haven't got your names yet, though I would doubt I need to tell you mine as I'm the only guy in this academy, pretty much everyone knows me already."

My classmates looked at each other again, before the black haired girl spoke first, "My name is Sayuka Yorutake, I sit in the row behind you one desk to your left."

Sayuka Yorutake's voice had a higher ranged pitch to it that I'm used to hearing with females, and it was kind of quiet and soft. The next of this group of girls to introduce themselves was the red haired one, "Hey there, I'm Yuzu Tanimoto; I sit next to you in the first row, on your right."

The second girl Yuzu Tanimoto, had a drawl somewhat, though it didn't affect the understandability of her speech. Oh yeah, that's why I think I had seen her recently, she sits next to me… silly me. The last of these girls giggled a bit before talking, "Hello, I'm Honne Nohotoke, I sit in the back row of the classroom."

And then there was the last of the three, Honne Nohotoke; I don't know which is more unusual, her appearance compared to those around her or her bubbly personality. Her voice was like an older child, but younger than one in their teenage years. With their names now known, I can commit to memory. I gave a casual glance at their trays… and had to take a moment for a second, longer look after seeing what was there. Let me take a moment of time, to pause and make a small comparison for this situation.

I'm a sixteen-year-old healthy male; I require a minimum amount of food to maintain my health, bodily fitness, and brain functionality like any human being does. That fact being established, an average breakfast for me will have a foot and a half by two-and-a-half-foot tray filled with little room to spare like I had this morning. With food choices from the necessary food groups to be in good health that one needs a good meal to get my day going along and feel like I can do what I say I can. After all, I'm still growing and haven't hit my full physical potential as of yet. However, on my classmates' trays… there was a lot of unused empty space, denoting the lack of food. In fact, for the three girls, who are very likely still in the state growing as I am. There was a small serving of grain, toast or some kind of pastry, a protein in the form of an egg on one, a tiny bit of veggies on another. Then there was a variation of a drink on all three trays… in other words, not a very healthy or filling meal.

I get that females are worried about maintaining their overall figure, learned that in my first semester at Cornell University. Still, doesn't make sense to me why they do it, even with some of the reasons I have been told they are so focused on maintaining their figure. So the question I ask, why do girls eat so little at meals? It appears like they're more sacrificing health for looks… at least that's how I see it. But then, I may never fully have understood why females do what they do, completely illogical. Back to the present, after I got my second look at what my classmates were eating, I stared at them "Say girls… not that it's any of my business; but aren't you eating a bit too little food for breakfast…? You sure you'll make it through until lunch with only that amount of food in you?"

The girls' expression changed to one of nervousness, "Well um… you see that's…" began Miss Tanimoto.

Miss Yorutake laughed softly, "Yes, that's… um… well…" she muttered.

However, it was from Miss Nohotoke that the answer to my question came, "It's because we eat a lot of snacks!"

Ah ha… I see, munching between meals… not the best thing to do for your health, but to each their own. With that settled and answered, I returned to eating breakfast and was about to finish it when I heard a loud clap. Turning around, I found Chifuyu standing in the center of the cafeteria in a… white track suit?! … If there is ever a time to get a bad vibe; right now is the time I do! Knew that I thought of Chifuyu was taking the role of the drill Sergeant from hell, but this is taking it a little too far!

"Less chatting and gabbing, more chewing and swallowing! Pilots have to be able to eat quickly and efficiently! Now get to it ladies!" barked Chifuyu in her authoritative voice.

Normally, there is a chance I would take some offense to Chifuyu grouping me in with females, as I'm clearly a male and not a female or lady. Nevertheless, it's not worth riling up Chifuyu at this time of morning to me… it's too early. That's the major reason I rarely took classes that started before 9 am… any time before that, is too early for things that required intellect and the brain doing work other than getting my body to move.

"I'm the first year dorm manager!" Chifuyu continued, "Anyone late to class will do ten laps around the school!"

… Is that it?! I did more than that this morning on my morning jog. Still, what a task master Chifuyu still is… hasn't changed a bit since last time I was around her… the things she used to put Ichika and I through back in the days we lived in the same house… those were good times. Not that I'm at risk of being late, I was nearly done with my breakfast by this point and so, I finished up and headed to the classroom… for the morning classes.

The first class in the morning was the one that Miss Yamada would teach us the basic info on the IS… my easy A course. It started differently today than it did yesterday; granted, it's only the second day, but still… Why are some easy A's harder than others? I knew there was something up, when Chifuyu stood at the teaching lectern at the front of the room rather than Miss Yamada. So, I gave my attention to see what this was about.

"Two weeks from today, you will have to choose your class representative. Said person will represent you on the student council, in interclass matches and will be your overall class leader." Stated Chifuyu.

Okay, so a person that gets to be the picture student that the rest of the class is judged by, not a new idea to me. … Wait a d**n second! All of this seems like a f**king set up for someone, aka me to be forced into a job I don't want. My classmates better not even think of asking or getting me to be in that position! God knows I don't have the time nor the desire to do anything like that.

"I will now take nominations, any suggestions?" asked Chifuyu flatly.

I held my breath, waiting for what I believe would happen and dreading that I was right! Seconds later…

"I want to nominate Taichi!" called a girl from behind me…

… D**n it! I knew that one of them would want me to do it! Let me think… uh… hmm… NO! No way, no how! I have more things than is reasonable, on my plate of things to do, because of the sh*t that rabbit landed me in. I need no more added to it… no sir! I don't want that responsibility to be shoved up my a**!

"I second that nomination, it sounds awesome!" came the voice of another girl from behind me.

No d**n it, no! I've no interest or wish to have the job! Time management has forced me to be strict in scheduling my usage of time; the hours of the day at taken by specific activities, for the two classes concerning ISs in the morning, which would be unaffected. The afternoons are used for college lectures and I won't miss those, no ifs, ands or buts; even if I need to pull strings to make sure! The evenings I used for homework, mostly for the college classwork as there is no time during the lectures to do classwork. High school students don't know what actual school work is like at the college level; you can't do an assigned project in one evening and expect a decent grade for it! There's no time to spare to attend meetings… that are either in the afternoon or evenings, which I use for college work!

Chifuyu sighed, "So, anyone against the idea? If not, then it will be decided without a vote."

This is a totally unfair vote! I feel like this is the same as American politics and those are horrible! I'll be heard in this before this goes any farther! I sighed before making my thoughts known, "Now hold it ladies, flattering as it is for you to nominate me, I…" I began.

"I do not approve of this at all!" shouted an annoyingly familiar voice that had badgered me yesterday.

Pausing for a moment, I breathed in deeply to keep control of the frustration and stress that was rising in me. Glancing behind me, I saw as I suspected by the voice, Miss Cecilia Alcott. She was looking rather livid about the thought of me representing the class. Well, if she wants the position, she is more than welcome to it!

"This type of selection is unacceptable! To have a boy as a class representative, and then have to bear such shame and humiliation for an entire year! No, I Cecilia Alcott, will not stand for such an outrage! In the first place, for me to have to live in a country with such underdeveloped level of culture, is so unbearably painful for someone like myself! Oh the horror and agony I am forced to endure!" the cry came from Miss Alcott, and it was just annoying and even a tad infuriating to watch

This is all about me being male?! This girl is really starting to grate on my nerves… and is starting to push me to my limit of control. The excuse of me being a guy that blondie uses to say how much better than everyone else she is?! … quite some insults that have come from Alcott's mouth… directed at myself and country… I thought, I already said what would happen if she decided to insult my homeland or the country that I call home, in other words; to insult either Japan or the US is an unwise idea for her. Doing so gives me free reign to take potshot type insults at her country of _dear_ Old England, and as an American, there are plenty of insults for that country from the American standpoint. As an American, historically I have the right to do so and I fully intend to take multiple potshots at her homeland as she has mine! Let the insult shooting begin!

"Okay, if you want the job and position of class representative, then you're more than welcome to take it. But as to your comment, you think that Japan is an uncivilized and underdeveloped country do you, Alcott?" I asked in a flat tone, which got the attention of Miss Alcott.

The blonde English girl stared at me for a bit, before smirking slightly in such a fashion as to look down on me, which she no doubt was; "Finally acknowledging your betters? Them why do you even need to ask such a question? Such a backwater place like this, of course there is little civility and culture."

Putting a finger to my chin as if I was thinking about the question Miss Alcott had asked, "Acknowledging? No need, there are no betters here as we're equals, though an amusing view Miss Alcott. Tell me, why aren't you wearing your long red coat while you say such things? Did you iron it before you left merry old England, just in case an opportunity like this comes up? Or do you keep it pressed just in case you're visiting 'uncivilized and underdeveloped countries' so that you can force things that won't work, like you British did in times of old?"

Miss Alcott's face flushed red and then it faulted into anger. It would seem that my insulting comment did indeed strike home with the blonde. The particular insult, was referring to how the British tried to bring 'civility' to the colonies that would become the United States of America. Said civility was in reality, the king of England exercising his unjust power over the colonists and the people didn't take it for long. The US since then, has become a country that the British had to admit was a civil country and a great power. More than anything, it was saying that Americans showed that British civility amounts to little, when it goes against desire to defend and fight for what one believes.

"How… How dare you insult me and my country; you useless male pig!" was the screech that came from Miss Alcott.

Well, if she's going to be rude; then I don't see why I can't do the same. I chuckled at her outburst, which incensed her more, "What's wrong Blondie? Don't you remember what I said to you yesterday? Chose to insult another's country, then prepare to have your own country put in the same position to receiving potshots. I deliver what I say." I remarked.

The Teenage blonde was fuming and seemed unable to come up with a reply to me. I chose to continue my rant, "You act so high and mighty, and I'll admit that's it's annoying You claim to have such deep tradition England has and yet, you discredit others. Think dear England is so perfect? Then why do they still make food that's eatable, but extremely unappetizing and tastes horrible. Probably is why England has won the world's worst cuisine award for the last fifteen years... in a row no less... what an achievement for England, wouldn't you agree?"

Miss Alcott stomped over and closed the distance between us and I could tell I had ticked her off good! My taunts had hit raw nerves and now we see her for how she is without control. "You… insult my homeland in such a low way… and for you to be a male… makes it all that much worse! You need to be taught a lesson in respect and manners… to know the proper place for males! I will be the one to teach this lesson! I will make sure it sinks into your skull!" said Alcott in contained fury.

I blinked several times at what had just said… had she just… challenged me to a duel? Well, that would more likely settle this argument quicker than talking with her. However, it will have to be next week as my personal unit won't be here until Saturday… the time in customs really delayed the arrival time of my unit and was annoying. "If that's your way of asking for a duel, it needs work. Still, as you want a go at me, by all means; who am I to deny you the chance? Name the time and the place, though next week is the earliest it can be, my unit arrives this weekend; other than that, I would prefer the fight not be in the afternoon as I have classes as do you, that we both need to attend if the duel is during the week." I answered Miss Alcott calmly.

"Very well, as you two have agreed to a duel. Then it will take place a week from Sunday at noon." Said someone that was at the front of the room.

Both Miss Alcott and I faced forward, and saw that it had been Chifuyu who had spoken and she continued, "The winner of the duel will be the class representative."

My classmates after hearing Chifuyu, began talking among themselves, mostly about the upcoming duel. Rising from my desk, I walked up to Chifuyu and asked to talk to her in the hall so that we could have a little privacy. Chifuyu agreed to my request. Once we got into the hall and the door closed, I began getting out my dilemma, "Okay look Chifuyu, the duel is fine with me; totally good with giving that blonde a wakeup call." I inhaled and then continued, "However, the reward for the winner is something I don't want. I'm a full-time college student da…da-ng it!" I stuttered when I was about to curse…

Chifuyu had made it clear some time ago that swearing in front of her had bad consequences! She had literally had washed my mouth out with soap… And some of the most horrible tasting kind. My big sister… Had used fabric strips to tie me down to a chair while she uses a brush and the soap to 'clear and wash' my mouth out. Ichika had been getting the same treatment as he had swore along with me When it had happened. Chifuyu had always been strict on discipline and enforced it when SHE thought it was needed. Would rather not have to experience that kind of thing ever again. I inhaled and kept going, "I don't have the time to be a high school academy class representative! Choose someone else, Chifuyu." I said sharply.

Chifuyu listened to me, but the look on her face said that she didn't agree with what I was saying. "Good to see you remember not to cuss or swear in my presence… Would get some soap and give your mouth a good cleaning." I flinched when I heard that, but she continued. "But sorry Taichi, the winner will be the class representative. Should you win, you will have to rearrange things to fit in the responsibilities." She finished simply.

Chifuyu doesn't understand what position I'm in, you can't rearrange college classes… and as I have already paid for the semester and far more than what was done for this place. I won't throw the classes away just so I can be a stupid class representative, it isn't worth it by any means! Frustration and rage boiled up in me at this development… this all happens… because that meddling metal eared bunny decides to pull sh*t like this and be a pain in my a**! Oh how I wanted to curse and cuss up a storm like I do with her!

My breathing became ragged before I spoke again. "Grr… Go-ah-osh Daaa-ng it… I wouldn't be here if that bunny wasn't blackmailing me! And the second I find out where her… her… Sorry Chifuyu, I can't be nice saying this anymore… not with that woman… so cut me some slack! As I said, once I find where her f**king hiddie hole is, she better be saying her prayers d**n it! Because she'll be feeling my wrath for this sh*t that she forced me into and when I get to her; mark my words… I'll shove it up her a** so far that she'll never forget it… even if I have to raze her entire d**n lab to the ground, and Lord knows I will!" I got out before I could stop myself.

Chifuyu stared at me confused, "Wait what? Tabane is doing what now?"

So… Chifuyu isn't going to punish me for swearing blatantly in her presence?! WHOO HOO! Glaring back at Chifuyu, I answered, "Yeah, the f**king bunny is blackmailing me and that's the reason I'm here Chifuyu. I'll make her regret forcing me to come here for whatever d**n reason she had in that mind of hers, when I already had college life planned out! But God knows that it hasn't ever matter to the bunny what I have planned or what I want, she is more interested in making me her entertainment show! Her a** will be whipped by me!"

-Scene change-

The rest of the morning passed fairly slowly… it was hard not to put my head on the desk and dose off, I was so bored! Yet should I do that, Chifuyu would then have an excuse to hit me and I had enough of a headache already with the prospect of being shove into a job I hadn't the time or the desire to fill! When lunch time came around, I was in a slightly better mood as the afternoon was for classes I liked and wanted to participate in. I won't be surrounded by females of my age for a little while… a break, thank goodness! The afternoon couldn't come fast enough in my opinion!

My first lecture was on Nanotechnology, and as my initial impressions had told me, this class will be amazing and extremely applicable to my work! The female professor sounded and looked kind of strict, but that's a small price to pay for the knowhow on the subject; I'm fascinated by this subject! The lecture that followed the first, was on Prosthetics. I decided on taking this subject earlier this year… okay more like after an incident with a piece of equipment on my IS unit, as the test for that equipment nearly put me into a coma… so, I thought it might be a good idea to study up on some things before trying something like that again. The equipment uses the same principles as prosthetics do, or at least the experimental ones, hence the class of Advance Prosthetics.

With the duel looming a week from Sunday, the rest of the school week went by without a great deal of events to note. Yes, I began to be put in the position of being flirted with and some attempted seductions from some of the bolder girls. What they didn't know, was I already have experience in this kind of thing. How might one ask? Because that pretty much sums up what non-class time turned out to be for my first semester of college life. Those women are much more persistent than these high school girls are. Nevertheless, the weekend at long last came and that meant things for me to do.

Saturday was my first of two free days and I would need both for preparations for the duel. After getting myself out of bed a little before seven in the morning as I sleep in a bit on the weekend, grabbed my computer terminal and the two-piece outfit that was my pilot suit, and got ready to go off to get my IS unit. After gathering my stuff, I quietly left the room so that I didn't wake up Houki. I left the school campus and to the location that I had agreed to meet those who were transporting my magnum opus here to Japan. When I met up with them, they moved my project to the academy, in the IS bay that I had arranged with the headmistress to work with my IS unit. It would be very unwise to leave this machine out where anyone can have access to it whenever they want. Granted, my unit can't be accessed by any random idiot. With the security measures I built in this unit… well, the results of the one incident of another attempting to stealing it… didn't live through the measures.

Once the unit was unloaded, I thanked the group that had shipped it here before they left. I looked over my unit, trying to decide where to start this day of work. As the unit was in standby mode right now; even if it more looked kind of like a human in the fetal position. I couldn't help the feeling of pride and some awe, looking at what I had been putting together close to four years now. Staring at my IS, I could for a brief moment understand why the metal eared bunny would want to see it. Metal ears and I don't get along on a personal level; but we had mutual respect for the other's work. Plus, neither the bunny nor the doll know specifically how I designed this marvel of engineering and machinery!

The custom designed, I have come to call, a 'Mobile Suit' or MS when I'm by myself or with those who have been helping me build it. It's to differentiate it from an IS. The main thing that I don't want the dumb bunny, the life sized doll, or even Chifuyu to know; is the core for this unit is made from the remains of IS prototype core 000 or core zero for short, for which I was the test pilot. It's the 'twin' of IS prototype core 001 or the IS known to the world as the 'White Knight', which Chifuyu was the pilot for. There had been issues with core 000… but that's not up for discussion right now. Nevertheless, that's just where I started this project, the core that the unit runs off of is my attempt to rebuild and fix the core zero. Yet, I'm convinced that it has the potential to be able to outdo, even the IS prototype core 001 given time. Most of the limitations that the unit has, are more due to the pilot's capabilities and limitations, rather than the machine's performance levels. And perhaps, some of its previous issues and quirks that it had as core zero.

Coming out of my trance of pride, seeing my work; I set down my mobile computer terminal, switched it on. The system loaded in less than a minute and waited for my next command. I changed the system over so that I can access the system anywhere within the room. After setting up the terminal, I stripped off my clothes and put on the black short sleeve top that was skin tight much like a muscle shirt. That was followed by the black shorts that went down just below the knees; both pieces of clothing fit tightly. After I was dressed I put myself directly in front of the unit, raised my hand and touched my unit. There was glow that came from my IS unit and its shape began changing, expanding and unfolding. After a minute the light went away and I saw the front 'armor plate' had disappeared, the shoulder pads front and back sections had opened, the head interfacing gear was higher than it was supposed to be; all being done in preparation for my mounting the unit. In other words, it was waiting for me to get in.

The machine's size was now a little more than eleven feet in height, and appeared much more intimidating. The suit was itself overall is grey in color, mixed with parts that were red. The red was on the part of the shoulder on the outside of it, then there was the rectangle of red over the top of my… privates. A gem shaped second of red was over the forward section of the middle of both my forearms and measured a six inches and the lastly, there would be a stripe of red on the front plate restraint when it was in place. That was a stripe like line that embroidered the part of the restraint plate, which stuck out about half a foot at heart level. Two vents will be set over my upper chest on either side of the stuck out piece of the front restraint, which I hadn't originally planned for in the design, but after the first test and feeling the heat that was generated by the unit, I needed a means to not tax the cooling system as the amount of heat that was generated was much more than I had expected. Then when I had done some estimates based on that output, I came up with a rough guess as to what kind of heat would be produced when the unit would be in full operation… and I thought it would be a wise idea to put in a way to cut that heat down; hence, the two vents. The two double wing apparatuses were set behind the shoulders and they still had the wings folded down. Although each apparatus had two wing units and their housing and they were set one in front and the other behind of the other.

Wasting no more time, I climbed up and mounted my unit. Inserting my legs into the slots at the top of the unit's legs. Settling in, I straightened my spine; pushing my back into the unit's pilot frame. When I did, a flash of light and the front plate that was a part of the pilot restraints; the plate pushed against my front and there was a click as the frame and plate connected and locked. The shoulder pads' front and back sections closed, locking onto my shoulders and encased them and lastly; the head interface gear lowered and once on my head where it was meant to be, it tightened down a bit attaching firmly. The vents on the front chest plate, connected to the back frame of the machine. Moving my arms then sliding them both into the slot for the arm control compartments for the arms of the unit. When I had, padding surrounding my forearm, but leaving my whole hand free to move. Felt the same idea happening to my lower legs, locking them into the unit. Within thirty seconds, I was fully locked in and held into my unit's restraint system. This is when one of my security measures could come up if someone other than myself is in the unit. I took a deep breath, before I said one line, "System activate, user Michaile, code 'I'm alpha and omega'."

There was a period of silence, because what I had just said was being processed, but then a humming was clearly heard as the unit came to life. This was followed by a mechanized voice speaking to me as the humming continued. "User information verified… Security measures disarmament initiated… System on-line… running system operations and performance checks…"

"Corinthos, bring command display up and display system check progress." I said.

"Understood… executing command." Replied the mechanical voice.

In front of my face, information began appearing and was giving me read outs on the progress of the checks being done currently. As I skimmed through the system info being displayed, I saw that everything was running as I wanted it to, much like the first test of the core's primary systems I did months ago. "Unit booting process completed… Primary systems are all green… Secondary systems have been disable per current operation protocol…" Came the voice from the machine again.

The readings I had seen looked acceptable… some can be better, but my unit isn't fully operational just yet. Majority of the secondary systems aren't working reliably yet, and so I have them inactive at start up so the whole system doesn't have the risk of crashing. D**n you metal eared bunny! Forcing me to have to rush my work so I can roll it out for use… though when I find you, mark my words; you will get a firsthand experience of just how good my MS performs in close range! "Corinthos, link suit unit's system to remote terminal to be recorded. Then we'll go through the basic movement patterns to start this testing session." I stated.

"Acknowledge… connecting… suit information is now being recorded to remote terminal." Replied the machine's voice of Corinthos after I had gave my statement.

Glancing down at the right arm with the clawed hand of the suit; I wiggled my fingers, feeling the controls that had been connected to them respond. Noting that the MS unit's hand mimicked the same motion of my fingers. Raising my arm and twisting my wrist, the unit did the same, which showed me that the MS was functional.

Once done with the simple tests of motor skill response, I set about doing the fine tuning on my unit. The goal to make it ready for use in combat; and to obtain that goal, there would be a lot of work to be done. I faced two problems in this task, first deciding which experimental equipment or systems should I keep for the duel if any and second getting the MS working smoothly with the parts I choose. After taking time to think and seriously weigh the important points to keep in mind for the duel; I made my decision on what I would keep and what I wouldn't.

Although it pained me to do so, I started with restoring the default system settings on the energy shield component. As much as I would love to keep the prototype energy field system I was working on alongside a friend… I can't in good conscience. As much as I trust our work, I need reliability more for the duel than versatility that my Regenerating Enhanced Cycling Omni-Layer field or RECOL field would give me. Wouldn't doubt that whatever weapon Alcott has with her IS would have extreme difficulty going against it... if it works as it's designed to in theory. But then, even if there isn't a specific rule against such an idea… it's more because no one other than me has thought about such a thing as of yet. It would definitely be illegal in competitions after I got one use of it… with three separate fields that work together for a solid defense. And with the Alaska Treaty, there was a lot less ways for such an idea to be used for.

The methodology of the RECPOL field, is that one field blocks while the other two are regenerating and standby for use. The fields switching is determined by the blocking field's integrity based on damage taken. However, as I said before, I need something that I know will work without question or doubt; so, I'll go with the 'standard' energy barrier. When I say standard, I mean after a bit of an alteration I made; a tweak that ends out saving energy in the long run, yet it is a risky and dangerous gamble as well.

The other system of note, was a part of the propulsion for the suit. It was a piece I'm keeping… in case I have need for a trump card in the duel, doubt I will, but better to be safe than sorry. The special designed thrusters I made with the help of a few trusted friends, can do real speed! And I mean like supersonic speeds, not something that would be wise to use in small spaces. Plus, I made the thrusters to work with the piece of work that I'm not really ready to use or risk doing so… reason I'm studying prosthetics for is the equipment in question. Along with a respiration support system to help breathing not be labored are used to get supersonic speeds. You see, for supersonic speed or faster, I discovered a consistent issue in the simulations and in real world aircraft tests; that being the needed reaction time and not crash and get seriously hurt, if not killed. Unfortunately, human beings aren't physically able to react quick enough with limited space to work with and most aren't able to keep their head calm enough to have the best reaction time. So, I came up with a way to make it possible to be able to be done, but… it's still a work in progress. What I made was a new type of interface that can grant faster reaction time; that's done by bypassing the body's responses and taking commands directly from the brain through the nerves around the brain stem. Doesn't feel pleasant at all, painful actually, more so after the connection became active; takes very focused thinking and ignoring the strain put on the brain.

Anyway, it took me the majority of the day to do the adjustments that were needed for my unit, even had time for a test flight. I only took short breaks for lunch and answering nature giving me a call. There was still tasks I needed to do to have my machine to an operational level that I would want for the duel in eight days. Finishing the stuff that I could today by the evening in time to go out to pick-up some dinner and returned my dorm room. Barely had time to set my computer terminal back on the desk and sitting down unpack dinner. Was planning to look over the data from the adjustments I did while I ate, when the door to the dorm room flew open. Glancing over at the door to see Houki standing there breathing hard, glaring at me. With fork in hand and halfway to my mouth I had to ask, "Hey Houki, what's going on with you?" I asked nicely.

Houki gave me a frustrated look in return, "Where have you been all day?!"

Taking a bite, then putting down my fork and swallowing, before I chose to answer, "Well as I have a duel a week from tomorrow, I used the day to make sure my IS is on its way to being in good operational state, so that I can finish next Saturday. Alcott needs no more handicap than that ego of hers supplies her with."

Houki looked worried at my answer to her, "You sound confident, be careful; Cecillia is a representative and I doubt it's only a title."

I smiled, "Why Houki, I didn't know you cared. How nice of you."

Holding in the laughter as Houki's face went crimson; she can be cute sometimes. "Your concern is appreciated Houki, and I have glanced at Alcott's profile. I know she isn't just all talk, but can fight decently and I'm preparing for it." I replied.

My roommate still looked worried for me, but she didn't say anything else to me. Resuming and finishing my dinner, I took the rest of the night easy. We'll see what this next week brings before the duel a week from tomorrow.

 **Chapter end**

 **A/n**

 **I'm ending here and will be getting to the duel next chapter. This chapter is a tad short that the first, but oh well. Please write a review, they help me improve my writing. Peace out until next time!**


	3. Proof of Confidence

**A/n**

 **Here is chapter 3 revised, the duel between Sai and Cecilia Alcott. Now some of you readers might have noticed that the chapters in this story are somewhat shorter than what I write in my other stories, that's how it goes. Anyway, I don't own nothing of this anime, manga or lite novel of Infinite Stratos, only my own character(s) and ideas of musing for this story. On with the show!**

Chapter 3

Proof of Confidence

The next week was rather uneventful; classes on the IS in the morning and then after lunch was college lectures. The only difficulty that I experienced, was the first year girls, more specifically in class 1; weren't giving me choice with the little spare time I did have. They were taking up the time I could be doing adjustments on my unit. On the second Saturday, I was able to finish the work to make my MS operational enough to be able to work seamlessly to the point I could go into combat. Originally, I hadn't planned to do major machine tests for another six months, I had been still testing singular systems for integrity and dependability as they run. But thanks to the hasenpfeffer, I'm force to rush my work and face risks in this.

And so the day of the duel came and it was a sunny Sunday. Today, I would be participating in a duel, against a stuck up noble my own age no less. At least, stuck up is how Miss Cecillia Alcott, the British representative contender comes off as… especially around me. Honestly, I haven't had the displeasure of being around someone that much of a pain in the a** since last year when I was taking a mechanical engineering course. There had been a female classmate who had an ego, had upfront told me I was an idiot and a waste of space with the seat I occupied. Yet, in the end, proved her wrong halfway through the course and that I could do exactly what I stated I could. I see this instance with Miss Alcott being no different.

Granted, I would've liked to have more time to adjust my machine… six months would be nice as I had originally planned for a bare minimum, but no, I only got two days to work with, there wasn't the time to do more than I did already. Plus, with adjustments being done by just myself… and well, work goes slower because of that fact. Nonetheless, I can't really ask anyone here at the academy to assist me! There would be too many questions asked, which I refuse to answer for personal and non-personal reasons. For example, were any of the staff here to find out that my unit isn't just equipped with an unregistered core, but an experimental core that was built from what was left from one of the prototype IS cores. And then, for that prototype to be the core that ISs aren't based off of, with the potential to outdo almost all IS cores that currently exist… a lot of things would result.

Best or worst case scenario, the first thing that would happen would be that I would never see my IS unit again nor any of the equipment that can go with it. My machine would be stripped and all sorts of other stuff by any country that should get a hold of it. My personal freedom would be revoked and if I was lucky, then I would be allowed to live my life outside a prison cell and in the worst case, I would never again have any of those freedoms returned to me. Either outcome, I would first be locked up and interrogated until those questioning me get everything they want from me or to the day I die… What things I might have to look forward to if certain facts came to light about me. But then, that's what awaits any of the three creators should any of us be caught by any government, country or organization in the world.

The only one in this place I can even remotely trust… is Chifuyu, and she's too wrapped up with teaching and managing the dorm to help me. Plus, should she find out information about the core in my unit… that would become ugly very fast! Chifuyu had some beefs with IS prototype core zero and understandably so. There had been problems back at the time both core one and core zero were being used… not the time to go into detail. Those who did help me before with my unit, live in America and go to… as you might have guessed, Cornell University like I had planned to do earlier this year… until a certain d**ned purple haired metal eared bunny messed with me and got me into this place where I'm the only guy. The infuriating bunny always somehow finds a way to make my life Hell when she decides that it would be fun to interfere with my life!

Well, looking on the positive side of things in this though, this duel will also serve as the first decent overall operational test for my machine and I won't say no to that opportunity! Just hope that everything runs and goes fine; in this testing. I may not be testing all the systems and equipment that my machine has access to, but I'll take what I can get for the moment. There are pieces of my IS that I'm not fully confident will do what I envision it to do and I would rather not risk things going wrong and blowing up in my face.

So… after waking up at around 7am, I went for my morning jog like I normally do and showered after getting back to the dorm room, I headed down to grab breakfast with my roommate Houki following closely behind me. Oddly, she hadn't really left me alone since Miss Alcott had declared a duel, other than when I did my morning jog, the bathroom and afternoon lectures, plus, a good portion of yesterday as I had been working on my machine pretty much all day. Not that I… exactly had a viable issue with her doing such… it was just… I don't know the proper way to say it without sounding rude and insulting… it's weird, definitely! I've never had a girl act this way around me… certainly I had girls follow me and… 'hover over' me, but not to the extent that I can remember.

Breakfast started like it had every day for the last week; I ate food while being stared at by the females here at this academy. Today's beginning meal, I was having two egg sandwiches, couple of sausages, along with an apple and a good size glass of the cool white wonderful goodness called milk. Like always, I was hoping for a peaceful meal, but have yet in the time I've been here have experienced. This morning's atmosphere, was somewhat worse than the times previous. Between the stares from the girls in the cafeteria and the few girls that were two second years, a third year and even a fourth years coming over to the booth I was sitting at, asking me if I wanted pointers for my upcoming duel during the week between the duel declaration and the day of the duel itself, breakfast was anything but peaceful for the day that led up to the match. It's not like I need pointers on how to use an IS as I'm one of the two original test pilots, not that any know that nor did I mention the fact. It was obvious that the girls taking the opportunity to try to flirt with me in various ways, I was coming to a decision of how to refuse the four upperclassmen who were offering help.

Yet, when those times came up, I didn't get even the chance to answer in either the affirmative or negative way. Why? … Because Houki would shut down those who came to offer me help that I didn't need. What more baffled me was the intersession by Houki, having not expect her actions. In my defense, it wasn't Houki shooing away older girls that was making me wonder. I have been getting the impression that Houki might be developing a crush on me… but I can't say with absolute surety. The morning meal was actually going nicely even if it wasn't peaceful… that's until a certain blonde girl who is a classmate, came up to the table.

"My my, I am surprise you even got out of bed this morning. I mean, it is clear that the outcome of the duel is easy to see for anyone here, the winner of the match will be me and by an overwhelming amount." Said Miss Alcott with a clear tone of pride, and she was trying to goad me.

D**n it, way too early for this sh*t! … Give her a B for confidence she has saying that line, but an F in the follow through with the bantering and intimidation she was going for… she's just annoying. Nonetheless, this girl was setting herself up for retort and that retort… it would be my pleasure to deliver! I took a minute and a half to think of a fitting way to reply to the female that I would be teaching a valuable lesson to later today… there was just so many ways I could choose! Thankfully, I know how to start this retort and that's the best place to start.

"You sound very confident Miss Alcott; so sure that you'll win the duel even before it starts?" I asked with a calm voice. Yet, I was baiting her and I seriously hoped she would take the bait!

Miss Alcott raised her hand to her mouth and made it look like she was trying to cover her snobbish giggle, which she didn't do at all. After she stopped laughing, the reply came, "But of course, as I said, I will win; it is so easy to see the victory will be mine, even a child could see that. Your chances are so miniscule, you should accept that I will win and save yourself the embarrassment that would come from me proving it."

YES! Thank you Miss Alcott! You took the bait and I'll reel you in hook, line and sinker! I'll enjoying every minute of proving you wrong! "Is that so Miss Alcott? Well, we Americans have a saying for those who talk like you. 'It ain't over until the fat lady sings, so don't go collecting the winnings until the fight is over'. So, don't recommend jumping to the conclusion before the event has occurred." My reply got the reaction I was going for, which was Miss Alcott getting irritated.

"You really think you have any chance to even lasting more than a mere minute against me?!" Challenged Miss Alcott.

My smirk should be a crime with how smug it was! Certainly, Cecilia Alcott didn't like me smirking at her, made her angrier. "Oh… I'm fairly sure that I'll manage to do just fine; I'm full of surprises. However, if you're so sure of yourself Miss Alcott, then how about we make a wager, just between you and me. More than just who's to be Class representative, since you're so sure you're going to win without restoring to underhanded methods, then the wager should work more in your favor, right?" I mused like I was thinking about the weather.

Miss Alcott stared at me, before she smiled haughtily, "Normally I would not even consider giving someone like you the opportunity to have the good fortune of thinking you could have me do anything you say. But, this is not an event that happens often, so what kind of wager did you have in mind, little boy?"

Oh… this will be fun! I caught sight of Houki looking at me with worry, but I just smiled, "Well, how nice of you Miss Alcott. I was thinking; first, as you don't believe I'll last more than a minute, then should I do so, you apologize to me for all the names and attempted embarrassment you have been trying to put me in. Should I win the match, then you have to admit to our classmates that you were wrong about me, as a person and as a male… to each and every one individually while I'm listening on top of the apology you give to me. So, what will you have me do should I not last more than a minute and if you win the duel?"

Miss Alcott looked like I had just said a horrible and cutting insult directed at her. The question was, which price which she would have to pay, hurt her pride more, apologizing to me or saying she was wrong about me. I wouldn't doubt by me telling her that I expect her to embarrass herself in front of our classmates which would wound her pride, but so does her apologizing to me. But, when I asked her what she wanted me to do should she win the duel, she got a very creepy… if not evil smile. "When I win, you will be my servant for the rest of the year… no, you will be less than a servant; you will be my slave!"

… That wasn't what I expected, with what Miss Alcott wanted from me if I were to lose… it was more than just harsh, from any point of view. I mean come on, I only asked for her to admit that she had been wrong about me to our classmates; she was asking for me to be at her beck and call, to humiliate at her leisure. … can anyone else see the vast difference in the value of the reward for the winner… it can't just be me?! I glared back at her, "Quite the difference in the prize value Alcott… let me guess, you've always been pampered and your mommy and daddy have gotten you everything that you've ever wanted, right? Pity they never got you manners, for you have yet to show any good manners to anyone that I've seen."

"How dare you! You ignorant and stupid, lowly boy!" growled blondie.

I'm really getting the impression that she sees me as less than human… like say an animal of some kind… I have begun to wonder that with some of the girls in this school. Still, the fact of the matter is, I believe that I can beat her… the only ones that I wouldn't say that with at this time, are world champions, which this girl definitely isn't of that caliber and Chifuyu Orimura! I stared back at Miss Alcott steadily, "But the wager is fine as has been stated, let's shake on this; so that we can make sure that the loser doesn't attempt to get out of doing what they've agreed to."

We shook hands as a sign of agreement to the wager that had been stated. Miss Alcott after that, strut… and yes, I seen and watched strutting that proud people do. The blonde was doing just that out of the cafeteria and then the whispering among the rest of the girls in the room. I just shook my head, returned to my meal, yet kept an ear open listening to the stuff I the girls were whispering.

"Such a good looking guy… wasted on such a spoiled blonde."

"Poor guy, he doesn't know what he's gotten into."

"This is his last day of freedom."

I set down the food I had been eating. What the hell? ... all of them agree with Alcott's view?! Sure, it's stands to reason that with females being the only ones to be able to use the IS; their views of males have fallen a great deal… but D**N, for it to have degraded to this extent… it's just sad! Looking over at the only girl at the same table as me. Perhaps, as Houki has been living in the same room as me for the last two weeks, she would have at least an amount of confidence in my performance. She had seen that I can do what I say; it would be nice for at least one person here to believe in me. The expression on her face however, told me that she thought the same as the other girls here… I was going to lose, no question. … What a vote of confidence or rather a complete lack of belief and faith in me!

"Sai, you should just apologize, then Cecilia might forgive you and you won't have to be her slave."

… Really? Like the nail being sunk into the coffin as it were. I'll prove them all wrong come high noon. Even should I somehow lose to Miss Alcott, unlikely as that is; I'll prove without a doubt that I can hold my own for a time and that won't be able to be denied when I'm done! She would still owe me an apology and she would give it or… well... it depends what blondie would do. If she treats me like dirt or less… then she better kiss her reputation and a** goodbye, because I'll destroy it to the point that none will question what a horrible person she is! Should any doubt my ability to get dark and dirty secrets, then they ain't seen my talents when it comes to hacking!

And should I have to be a slave to Alcott for a year; I can't see her being anywhere near as horrible as being around the dumb bunny is for even a short period… that became hell! Plus, I can make the blonde want to be rid of me, given enough time and motivation. I learned how to be intolerable from the best, the two eccentric geniuses I had to spend over two years with. So, if I'm pushed, then I can be downright mean! Looking back at Houki's face and the worry that was there I gave my reply, "Do really think she would actually forgive me? If she did, do you honestly believe I would be willing to consider doing the conditions that she set? If the British blonde wants to duel me, then I'll give her just that! Admittedly, I find your lack of faith disturbing. With you having seen some of the things I can do when I put my mind to work… watch the duel and see what happens, then judge for yourself if I'm as useless as girls here think I am." I said coolly.

-Scene change-

The time for the duel was now close at hand, I had headed to the IS bay with my unit. After getting machine to unfold into active standby mode, I climbed in and settled myself into the frame. The restraint system activated and locked me into my unit, taking a deep breath saying what I needed to for my MS to work for me; "System activate, user Michaile, code 'I'm alpha and omega'."

Waiting for a few moments, the humming of my machine coming to life was heard followed by the response that I was expecting, "User information verified… Security measures disarmament initiated… System on-line… running system operations and performance checks…" Came Corinthos.

After two minutes, Corinthos spoke again, "Unit booting process completed… Primary systems are all green… System settings running previous configuration."

After confirming the setting, Corinthos went silent; waiting for me. I inhaled and exhaled steadily, getting into the 'zone' as it were. "(Sigh) Well Corinthos… the time for us to take the field has come sooner than expected. Can't say if everything will work as I had hoped, but there's no way I can back down from the one that will be our opponent." I said out loud.

Didn't foresee any response from Corinthos, yet the 'control program' had surprised me a few times before. "Agreed Sai." Came Corinthos's voice.

And once more Corinthos 'thinks' for itself… interesting, "The girl thinks I'm as low if not lower than dirt. She has more recent experience than us as I haven't fought for years." I mused out loud.

I'm fairly sure that I can beat her if everything works, but still I'm rusty in fighting skills and performance in this kind of thing. "No! We can defeat this opponent Sai!" declared Corinthos.

Taken aback; not just by Corinthos replying to me, but also what was said and… the conviction that it was said in! This was a first, Corinthos not only saying a reply that a person would give, but also having the hint of emotion. I felt a smile creep across my face at this unexpected development… I mean, I knew that Corinthos was changing in ways that were originally thought impossible, but this is much more than I had predicted!

"You're right Corinthos. Right then, let's do this!" I said with finality

Taking the final steps forward, I moved onto the platform that was a part of the launching catapult and settled into the stance for launching. "Remoting into catapult controls… accessing… control system connected… initiating launch sequence." voiced Corinthos.

I smiled at the fact that Corinthos had already thought about taking control of the catapult as we didn't have an operator at the controls. Leaning forward slightly as the launch plate moved forward and quickly picked up speed. Raising my head, I saw the fast approaching light source, signaling the last fifteen meters of the catapult. My unit's thrusters ignited and increased my launching speed, the feeling of the increasing G's got my blood pumping faster. Readying myself to leave the platform, I leapt upward just before the platform hit the end of its track. Rising rapidly up to around seventy feet in the air, I leveled out and faced my opponent, Cecilia Alcott. She was hovering fifty feet away from me in her unit.

Facing her gave me the first opportunity to see blondie's IS unit apart from the basic specs report I had been able to acquire a few days ago. The United Kingdom's third generation IS at first look like with the report, can't exactly be considered cutting edge or a huge advancement from the second generation that England used, even if they want everyone else to think so. The main weapon that the IS used was still a rifle meant and designed for sniping at medium range. With that in mind, the rifle would have very high power output for the purpose of piercing defense. But, the standing flaw with the high power output the beam that rifle is capable of, is that the closer the intended target is, the harder the strain is on the rifle due to the energy heating the barrel and the pilot will have more difficulty aiming decently. The alloy the British tend to employ with construction in ISs and their weaponry, has limits on how much heat and use it can take before problems start popping up. To my knowledge, British scientist still haven't overcome that particular flaw… or admit it at all according to my sources. It falls to the pilots, to shoot their target and disabling them quickly, rather than enduring for long matches without getting time for maintenance. A risky strategy to depend on… and for it to be likely the only one that blondie has… this is either going to be really interesting or very sad and boring.

Then there was the rest if Miss Alcott's unit, most of it was pretty standard from what I could see. The only parts that weren't, would be the shield like shoulder apparatuses hanging over both sides. The rumor that the British had developed some type of working remote 'weapon bits' was one that had come to my ears, but I hadn't been able to confirm it. If they had I applaud them; it isn't an easy thing to do. I've been toying around with the theory myself but haven't gotten the idea to work reliably yet, and that's not for lack of trying. So as it stands, I'm going against a medium range sniper rifle that has difficulty at close range. If those shoulder pieces are the weapon bits that I have heard about, can't predict their ideal range from what I know. The drawback I would assume, is that the pilot needs to concentrate on giving them input, which would mean they can't use the rifle while the bits are in motion. That was the particular point I was trying to change with my version of weapon bits; if they require full attention, then your opponent has an opportunity to score a strike on you should they get past the bits. Lastly, from what impressions I have gotten of Cecilia Alcott thus far, she'll have something for close range… probably some kind of cheap shot, knowing her pride and unwillingness to lose. Right then, unless this girl is a master of deception and is in truth a prodigy with the IS, this battle will be fairly boring. As long as I keep calm and collected, I should win this without too much of an issue.

"I applaud you, coming out here to face me, with the chances you have. You have nerves, but that won't save you." Called Miss Alcott.

… There are so many things I could say in reply; like 'what would you know about this dumb blonde' or 'pride comes before a fall'. Yet, that might incense her to keep going and I don't want my ears talked off today. Managing to hold in the strong urge to reply with a retort which attempted to come out of my mouth at hearing the poorly hidden disdainful tone from my opponent. "Thanks… I think." I returned.

"However, as I will defeat you completely; so, I will give you a chance. As I am so generous and you are so lowly; I will let you have a chance to apologize. Do so and I will forgive you and let you leave without embarrassing yourself." Said Miss Alcott.

Isn't she already trying to embarrass me, which she's failing and yet she insists she can do further? How hypocritical can one person stoop to? Humiliating someone and giving them the option to embarrassing themselves further before leaving, just is so wrong; blondie is a real piece-o-work, that's for sure. "Intriguing an offer as that may be Miss Alcott, I'll have to refuse. You see, I think it's high time that all see that males aren't inherently as useless as females have come to think we are. And I'm just the man to do it! Plus, you're already trying to embarrass me and just have yet to succeed because I ignore your derogatory insults. But hey, don't let me ignoring you stop you from trying." I returned to her with firmness and a knowing smile.

Miss Alcott's face shifted into anger at my answer to her 'offer'. "You horrible pig! I was showing you kindness, but you refuse it. … and you ignoring one superior to you…!" She almost bellowed at me.

My expression which had been that of an adult humoring a child changed to somewhat cold and calculating. I'm a gentleman true, but I do have limits till I drop being nice. This female teenager was ticking me off and I wouldn't let her see me as less than I am. "Kindness my a… rear? Why don't you just say that you're taking as many opportunities to attempts to publicly humiliate me and make me look like an idiot as you can get away with? Do get your story straight, Cecilia Alcott, instead of lying to make yourself appear better than others. Honesty is the best policy as said by Benjamin Franklin and I do agree with him." I stated in a tone that was a cross between coldness and monotone.

Was going to cuss with my first sentence, but thanks to Chifuyu, swearing out loud is harder for me. A habit kicks in and I stutter before saying the full curse and I say a non-cuss close equivalent. The reason… let's just say I don't want my mouth washed out by my older sister figure anytime in the future… things don't taste right for more than a week with the soap that she uses! Back to the current situation, Blondie was incensed by my comment. "Such rudeness… Fine! Then I will teach you a lesson that you will not forget!"

I smirked a bit. Finally, she's going to shut up and we can get down to business and move on! I have other things I can be doing with my Sunday afternoon, but I can make time to teach Blondie a valuable lesson that she needed to learn! I back down to no one! I won't go out of my way to make myself look stupid for others without a viable reason to me, d**n straight period! All that we were waiting for was the signal to start the duel and we would be having ourselves a rumble. The sight of Miss Alcott itching to bring her rifle to bare on me and begin squeezing on the trigger wasn't missed by me. My response was to have my thrusters primed and ready, and they were putting out invisible colored flames accompanied by waves of heat from their exhaust ports.

"All right you two, remember this is a duel, not a fight to the death! Now, make yourselves ready!" Yelled Chifuyu.

Chifuyu can say that all she wants until she's blue in the face, doesn't change the point that Cecilia Alcott and I, will be going for injuring each other as much as possible, even with the energy shield preventing anything serious from occurring. Don't doubt Alcott intends to do whatever it takes to prove how much better she is then me… obtain blood if it's necessary. I'm not feeling much disposed to be nicer to her at the moment, fair is fair. I settled into a stance that would give me good range of mobility and versatility from the get go. After all, I would have a gun pointed at me very soon and I'm inclined to evade. So best to prepare, no need to make myself an easy target. My wings rose behind me and spreading out so that four separate wings on either side were now visible right behind me as they deployed.

The four wing apparatus were made up of three parts; the two wings and the hub that they connected to. The two wings are shaped as a basic scalene triangle with two different sections. The top part and a long line section made up the framework of the wing and also acted as reinforcement for the integrity; it was colored black. The lower part of the that also had a scalene triangle shape to it, and was blue in color. There were two wings connected to the top hub, which was shaped as a top right elongated length wise polygon minus the vent along the outer side for faster flying. Said hub was set over each of my shoulders and there were two of these structures behind each shoulder.

Now, many might think the wings are for looks or stability; they would be wrong on both counts. The wings are for two functions, to hold the thrusters that give me great maneuverability and will help me evade incoming shots and give me better than average speed among ISs. The other function, is one, which isn't going to be available as I disabled the system as it isn't ready for use for the time being. And right now, the blue sections of the wings opened to a twenty-degree angle and separated from the black line at the end about five inches. The tension in the air was palpable and getting thicker with each second.

"And begin!" came Chifuyu's shout.

The second after hearing that, I shot off to the right, but still had enough time to see as I fully expected, Miss Alcott to site me with her scope. The sight of a blue line passing through where I had been. It confirmed to me my expectation of the action of my opponent shooting when she heard go or begin as was in this case. There came a second shot shortly following the first, and like the previous one, it missed me. Information readouts appeared on the right side of the unit's display; curtailing the power output of the rifle that Alcott had. The readings simply proved that the sniper rifle was high powered and had lots of heat as I had predicted; and the temperature was nothing to joke about. No doubt that same heat is being transferred to the rifle barrel; enough of the heat can do damage to the barrel and throw off the power and firing angle over time.

Even as I glanced at the info being displayed, I made sure I never took my attention fully off my opponent. So, I caught the expression on the teenage girl's face and it wasn't a happy one; clearly, she hadn't expected me to be able to dodge her first shot. Adjusting her aim, she began a barrage of beams and I weaved in an out of the line of fire coming my way. The longer this continued, the more frustrated Miss Alcott became and the better my mood became; I was having a blast! The feeling of proving another that they were wrong… especially about me; is a hard feeling to beat! Before either of us knew it, two minutes went by… she now owes me an apology! The female blonde attempted to hide her emotions like all arrogant people in one of the ways they do… by using bravado, "It is impressive that you have lasted this long against me and my Blue Tears; you are the first to go so long against my IS, but it will not continue!"

Sure it won't, you dumb blonde, you keep telling yourself that. The emotionally challenged female has yet to land a single solid hit on me. The only energy my unit has used is for the thrusters for pin point movement and that's unlikely to be anywhere near the energy consumption the sniper rifle Miss Alcott using requires. Within almost three minutes elapsed time since the duel had begun, to was undeniable fact that my opponent relied on nailing her target once and then quickly blasting away at said target after catching it off guard with the initial shot. After that she's got nothing else in mind when it comes to tactics for fighting and with her being unable to hit me as of yet; she's in trouble. If Miss Alcott frustrated expression was anything to go by, she's getting more frustrated with each passing shot.

Thirty seconds went by and nothing about Miss Alcott's tactics changed in the slightest since the signal to start; she was still trying unsuccessfully to shoot me with her sniper rifle. I don't know if I'm more surprised that she can't figure out that I can maneuver out of the firing line faster than she can site me with the scope on her gun or let down for the same reason. Hell this was getting to be boring! One thing was certain, I'm done just evading in this match. I've been giving the opportunity to Blondie to do her thing; it's me being the gentleman. However, I was done letting Alcott pet and preen her ego and pride… if you can call failing to hit your opponent once that. It's time that Cecilia Alcott, understands that I'm no easy opponent and that I can do what I say I can. My turn to show her that combat isn't something to inflate one's pride, but a serious matter!

A quick glance at my unit's vital readings, I noted that my shield energy was at 550, so only fifty points down. The first task for me is to eliminate distance separating us. Alcott's rifle should be harder for her to use effectively in close range. Yet, I'm no idiot and so bet that she likely has some weapon that will work at close range just fine. As arrogant as this female teenager has shown herself to be, wouldn't be so dumb to not cover all combat ranges; her profile which I read, made that clear. So, I'll need to carefully but steadily get closer to Alcott. Patience is key, rush this and I could just give a chance for Blondie to hit me… good things come to he who waits. With that in mind, I began to slowly gain forward headway as I kept evading the incoming shots; not to say that Miss Alcott didn't get close to nailing me with a few shots. However, as the saying goes, 'close, yet so far'! Managing to rid fifteen feet of distance, during the erratic firing spree the now angry blondie was throwing my way.

There was around twenty yards separating us and it was at this point that Miss Alcott lowered her rifle. Following that, the shoulder wings detached two of the outer wing sections on both sides. … So as I figured, the shoulder apparatus act as docks for the weapon bits while they aren't in use. It should be said, the girl likely can't fire her rifle while the bits are in play as she needs to concentrate on giving them input. The four bits dropped for almost ten feet before the leveled out and gained altitude and headed in my direction. I anticipated the beams that came from the bits, and twisted out of the way of the first and the second beams just fine. The third beam was a closer shave though it didn't hit me, I flipped backward to dodge it, but I saw the blue line of the energy beam passing over my left shoulder. My head was pointed downward at the ground when the fourth beam came my way… passed through my spread legs slightly above where my crotch was situated… I felt the heat from the beam! It was much TOO close for any comfort to be felt by me!

The view that everyone is entitled to their opinion, is one that I concur with, it's the right of any person. But as much as Cecilia Alcott distains me for being a man or in whatever way you want to say she doesn't like me for my gender, acting on her opinion is crossing the line that shouldn't be approached! She is free to think such things about me; but to act upon it in the form of her shooting at my… well, what makes me a man and allows me to make a legacy in the future… is just wrong! It's unacceptable and I won't take that nor will I let her target me in such a place without having to face consequences!

In response to being shot at by four different sources and more specifically and nearly getting my balls blasted off; I decide that I needed to get rid of those bits and pronto! To protect my future children… when that event shall come into my life; those things have got to disappear! On both sides of my hips, there appeared two rifles in holster like clamps that were on my hips. I lower my hands to the back of the rifles and handles unfolded out, grabbing them and bringing them out. Switching the targeting system over to active tracking mode that allows me to track my enemy's movement so accurately, that I could know just how much their unit's thrusters have to put out to keep my opponent hovering where they were… It's probably is against some rule, but I don't care… desperate times call for desperate measures! NO ONE aims at my junk around the trunk, let alone actually tries to nail the family jewels and gets away with it! Rules can go to hell when my manhood is put in the line of fire and are at risk of being damaged or worse!

It took around five seconds for my unit to lock in two out of the four bits, which two were a little closer to me. Raising each rifle to arm's length and aiming in the direction that each of the bits that I had locked in and pulled both triggers at the same time. The two explosions were extremely satisfying to hear as it said to me, I had nailed the targets with my two beams. However, instead of celebrating, I was forced to move up and then in a downward diagonal to the right due to the beams from the remaining bits. Before I was able to lock-on to and take out the other two bits, the beams stopped coming at me. When I looked up, I saw the two bits had returned to their docks on the shoulder wings on Miss Alcott's IS. Well, now that she's made her move in this, it's my turn to make mine. Putting away my rifles, I took the opportunity of my opponent's inaction; to knock off another ten feet between Miss Alcott and myself.

That put me within ten yards, getting closer to being in hitting distance of Alcott, I reached to the back of my unit's waist and grabbed the energy saber which was held there. Closer and closer I came, Blondie managed to fire off two more shots before I got too close for her to shoot me with her rifle. I exerted a final burst of speed to close the rest of the distance so that I was feet in front of Alcott. Yet, instead of her looking shocked or even worried, she simply smirked; which to me, confirmed she had a weapon for close range that I couldn't see… cue cheap shot.

"I see you fell for my ruse." Said Miss Alcott loud enough for me to hear her, "So sorry there is more!"

From the back of Miss Alcott's unit swung out two tubes. I immediately flipped myself upside down keeping my head at the same level as my opponent's head. Watching as out of the two tubes came missiles, which would have been hard to avoid if I hadn't expected a cheap stunt from this girl. Although, the missiles missed me to which I was grateful, the expression on Alcott's face took the cake! A look of unbelieving shock was clearly set on it as we stared at each other, her right side up and me upside down. "Firing missiles at such close range? Did you think of how that puts you within the radius of the explosion just as much as me?" I inquired with slight mirth in my voice as I put away my saber.

The missile tubes returned back to being behind Miss Alcott and I observed the two weapon bits that I hadn't destroyed earlier launched once more. Moving around and turned over to be right side up to end out directly behind blondie. Both weapon bits came to a stop around twenty feet in front of my view and pointing at me. My wings moved to point the thrusters upward before I sighed at seeing a classic setup of an amateurish mistake about to happen. It would serve her right if I said nothing about what she was going to do, but… I'm too much a gentleman, at heart through and through; meaning that I feel the need to try and warn her of the danger to her actions. "Cecilia Alcott, I would highly recommend you take a moment to think about your next action in the context of where we're positioned currently." Stating this calmly, wondering whether Miss Alcott would see what I was referring to… if she listened to me at all. … Doubt she would listen to a word of what I have said.

I heard a huff before hearing the blonde speaking, "You think I would listen to my opponent!"

Of course she won't take my advice… this girl's streak of pride is going to get her hurt bad. Probably within less than a minute from now, were I to guess. Glancing at the weapon bits before I shot downward, out of the line of fire as the bits shot their beams. I shifted my orientation so that I got to see the affects that the two blue beams slamming into Miss Alcott as I had known they would. Granted, her energy shield prevented harm from coming to her, but the rookie mistake had cost her an amount of that shield energy. It took a couple of moments for blondie to right herself and when she had, sent an angry glare my way below her. I gazed back at her, "I tried to warn you, it's not my fault you didn't listen."

Miss Alcott's fury intensified and she started shaking with it. My expression became a deadpanned looked, "You really expect me to stay put and take those two shots for you? I may be a gentleman, but even I have my limits as to what I'll do for another."

"You… you…", was what I heard from blondie in a tone of rage.

I'm not liking the tone or the emotion that I was hearing and detecting from this unstable teenager. Intuition says baaaad things are coming… hmm, me thinks it would be wise for my safety to make distance from this ticking time bomb that was threatening to explode. My wings swung forward and pushed began to move me backwards. I observed the worrisome lack of control that was growing in the teenager before me, feelings of danger to myself increase and I sped up my distance gaining motion. As I witnessed the visible flash of rage on Miss Alcott's eyes and knew that a storm was imminent. Throwing all caution to the winds and stepped on the gas with my thrusters, I flew at decent speed away from the female. Blondie raced after me and in response, I increased the burn that my wing thrusters were putting out. Blue beams started zipping past me… I've said it at times before, and I'll say it again… girls become nuts when they overreact! … This is reminding me of my first date in the end… I should've just declined that woman from the beginning and saved myself the trouble of what followed the… marginally okay date at first, woman was a really bi**h! However, as the beams kept shooting past me. I was brought back to my current dilemma… Miss Alcott was slowly gaining on me.

This female teenager is totally out of control; I need a way to disable blondie! That can be said without reservation as half her shots were coming near me and the rest were going dangerously close towards the stands. The sound of the voice of Chifuyu yelling for us to stop and that the match was over was heard. My survival instinct was now established in the forefront of my mind and had taken the copilot seat. I glanced back and noted that Miss Alcott wasn't in anyway stopping or even slowing down; hell she was speeding up in my sight wasn't deceiving me! Now that I've take the situation assessment it was crystal clear that I need to end this quickly. Yet, with blondie in the state she is, hitting her enough to have her shield go to zero will take time that there just isn't available. I have a plan B, but… it was risky on my end; puts a strain on me like most wouldn't believe! Looking back at the stands, I saw the scared faces of my classmates along with their screams as they were attempting to get to safety, my decision was made. Time to get plan B moving; I took a deep breath before putting my plan into action, "Corinthos, switch over to DCC Interface."

The Direct Cerebral Connection command interface or DCC, was an invention of mine that was still a work in progress. The principle that the interface is based on is fairly simple; where the command interface that an IS would normally use, receives commands from through the input that is read from the frontal lobe of the brain. There are filters built into the interface to prevent random and stray thoughts that run through the mind from being translated into orders for the IS to follow. The DCC reads signals from the brain stem which can be translated faster as they are more understandable and don't need a lot of change for the machine to comprehend. The downside… there are no filters and only focused commands make it through, but some other possibly are able to make it too. So, I need to concentrate and watch what goes through my head when using this interface. I really shouldn't use the idea as the last time I tried to, I ended out in a coma for a few days, but desperate time call for drastic measures sometimes.

"That is not recommended… without the respiration support system available switching over to it would go against safety protocol." Came Corinthos's voice with his response.

"I'm aware of that Corinthos, but this needs to end quick; switch over and prepare to speed up." This wasn't going to be pretty, yet Miss Alcott brought this on herself!

"… Switching over to Direct Cerebral Connection command interface… activating interface…"

It initially felt like I was punched in the back the head hard… like receiving Chifuyu's full strength punch, and at the same time it also felt like my head was being squeezed and throbbed horribly! The pain became manageable over ten seconds, which was good timing as I entered a turn after I focused back on flying. The pain was still present, but I could ignore it enough to keep going. I pulled into a hard bank as I the turn approached and the response of my unit came pretty much instantly, notably faster than the normal expected response time of an IS. While in the turn I set the command to my units wings to open up more so that the thrusters could have the a much more effective burn and so more force to push me forward. Now the angle that separated the blue section from the black was forty-five degrees and at the end there was a seven-inch distance.

As I came out of the turn, I was low to the ground. I still could tell that Alcott was behind me, yet she had to slow down a bit when she performed the turn and not plow into the wall. I quickly changed my flight direction to going upward and created a sizable dust cloud that blinded my opponent for a little bit. Shooting up to around four hundred yards, and as I hit the peak of my ascent, spun around, then went into a deep dive. Racing downward, spotting the blue spot that marked where my target was, I honed in on the spot. As the cloud of dust cleared, Alcott glared around searching for me; she spotted me diving at her within twelve seconds and she flew upward towards me. When she had I steeled myself for what I was about to do, I had my body in the formation that superman did when he flies as I dived. "Corinthos, go supersonic NOW!"

Half a second later, a great amount of force threw me forward at a speed that was faster than the speed of sound as there was the sound of a sonic boom. The next thing that blondie knows, she blinked and I slammed into her with so much force that she was in a serious daze. Another blink, there was an extremely loud crash as we both impacted into the ground of the arena and a good size crater appeared with Cecilia Alcott in the center of it. I, on the other hand, shot off blondie, still moving at a high rate of speed. Took me a few seconds to get my feet to connect with the ground and I began carving a trench across the ground, trying to stop! Heck, keeping my balance was a very difficult challenge, but if I didn't hit the brakes hard enough to stop in the next thirty seconds, then I would find myself kissing the arena wall and I would like to avoid that!

I leaned forward more to get my center of gravity back and keep upright, I don't want to make things worse for me by tumbling and rolling at these speeds! Snapping my machine's wings to be horizontally positioned, parallel to the ground, the thrusters igniting. Orange plumes of fire that measured between three and a half to four feet in length, provided forward thrust. The opposing and opposite thrust to the momentum moving my backward, slowed me down a little, but the momentum still had far more power than the forward thrust! … Need more power! Compartments in the back of the machine's legs opened and two thrusters on each leg began to add to the forward force.

Focusing hard, I managed to quell my rising panic of crashing into a wall as with the current interface, as already stated, stray thoughts can do random and dangerous things. Got all my suit's thrusters to go as hard as I could without having them go out in a short period. That's what happens to obtain supersonic speed, hard short burn from the thrusters for acceleration. The flame from the thrusters had been almost four feet in length, now became nearly eight feet. Feeling the G-force pushing against me as the backward momentum fought against the forward thrust being generated, was incredible and strenuous at the same time. Nevertheless, the outcome was inevitable between the two opposing forces. It took another ten seconds for me to come to a complete stop and to shut off my forward thrust and when I had, I exhaled in relief. Looking behind me and finding the outer wall of the arena was a mere nine feet from me and there were clear black charring marks from my thrusters. A shiver went through me seeing how close I had gotten to getting to know the wall intimately.

The pain from before surge in strength in my head, regaining my attention, "Corinthos, shut off the interface and switch back… Gah! Then start suit diagnostics!" I said with the tone of pain in my voice from the increasing strain that was building in my head.

"Understood… interface deactivated and switched… beginning system diagnostics" was the reply from Corinthos.

When I heard that from Corinthos, the pressure in my head started to lessen, still leaving me with a serious headache. I also had a burning sensation on the upper section of my neck around the base of my skull; felt like a horrible sunburn. Glancing over at where the crater was on the other side of the arena that I had slammed Miss Alcott down into and saw nothing. I took that to say blondie was down and wouldn't be getting up for a time. Her energy shield had saved her from the blunt force of the impact, from causing injury at least… that's how it's designed… or rather I should say that's how I designed the idea. She would still have felt and would have been shaken by the impact, but the price of that would be the shield would be at zero. Meaning the IS would forcibly disengage due to the mandatory unlock component.

Seeing something out of the corner of my vision, I focused on the movement and saw females pouring onto the arena grounds. Medical personal followed them towards Miss Alcott… I would probably need them soon enough as well. "Corinthos, what's the damage thus far?" I asked ignoring the pain in my head; kind of wishing not to know, but at the same time knowing it wouldn't get any better avoiding the information.

"Stabilizer functions and alignment has been compromised, currently damage of stabilizers overall is estimated to be class D. That is all, until further system diagnostics are completed." Was the dreaded report from Corinthos.

Class D… great, that'll take fixing later… if they can be repaired after the beating they took. Right now I'm dealing with a horrendous splitting headache from that experimental interface along with burning with my neck… knew I shouldn't have used it, with what it could do to me, but what can you do I suppose. So, fixing the suit can wait till I get over this headache and the other aches and pains I have! My unit began to glow and then disappeared, going back to the IS bay to wait for repair. Landing on the ground and stumbling a little before regaining part of my balance after wading through the disorientation I experienced, the pounding in my head surging in strength for a moment before I got some of my balance back. The involuntary motion of clutching my head in pain, that I would normally resist… I didn't even try right now. I was too tired from this duel and hurt because I used a system I hadn't planned on using in this duel in the first place.

Some of the adults began heading in my direction by this time, though I was having trouble staying on my feet. My consciousness was fading quickly; I had enough time to see that Chifuyu was in front of those approaching me. That's before I fell forward into blackness, unable to stay awake or capable any longer.

 **Chapter end**

 **A/n**

 **I know this is leaving the story off on a cliffhanger, but I have to admit it's kind of fun! Please keep reading my stories, it is you readers that help me keep writing. Take the time to write a review to say what you thought or ask questions about what you read. If you want to ask something that you don't want others to see, you can PM me and I answer the question the best I can and no one else will know. Until the next time!**

 **xXgabeXx**

hoped you enjoyed.

 **LabMember009Isaac**

Well, in my view Ichika is a horrible example of an 'average guy's' knowledge of girls. I'm not saying that there aren't guys who are that dense, but as anime and TV do so often, they like to play things up more than they actually are. And as to the anime, I like it… but come on, there is some many different things that can be done with one male in a place full of girls. So, I say why not think outside of the box! I hope you liked the chapter.

 **Ricktor705**

Thank you for the compliment.


	4. Another one!

**A/n**

 **So hello all you readers. Have a few things to state, I went through Chapters 1 and 2 and corrected some grammatical errors, changed some words and added height measurements for the characters and they are as far as I know accurate to them, also added a description of Maya Yamada. Most of that is just to add depth to the story, but there is nothing storyline changing. Now, some might notice that this story follows parts of the storyline of Infinite Stratos, but I warn you, some of the characters you know from the anime or manga, will be different or at least act differently to Sai than they did to Ichika. And then, there will be variation to the storyline. Deal with it and feel free to laugh your head off… no, I'm serious, laugh at the differences. I find them funny and chuckled as I wrote them.**

Chapter 4

Another One?!

Woke up in my bed in the dorm room that Houki and I share now, though it was slower than usual. I lay on the comfortable piece of furniture trying to recall a reason as to why I would feel this groggy. It didn't take long for memories of the duel and the events that followed to run through my mind.

-Flashback-

When I opened my eyes, I found myself looking up at an unfamiliar white ceiling. Pain was running throughout my body, especially in my skull; had a monster of a headache. Groaning softly while trying to remember how I had ended out in this bed… wherever it was.

"So, finally decided to wake up did you?" Said a voice I knew far too well to mistake.

Sitting up slowly, I took over a minute to come to an upright position. Looked over to my right and I saw that Chifuyu Orimura was parked in a chair. Exhaling a breath, I answered, "Give me a bit of a break would you Chifuyu. You used to cut me a sizable amount of slack when I was younger and living with you and Ichika… Now you're so cold."

Those had been much happier days, living with the Orimura siblings. Before that, my mother had died from illness and my other biological sire, was a horrible idiot… just up and abandoned me… there is more to the story, but not something I get into… Bad memories. Thankfully, I was able to look after myself… better than some adults can, even though I had been only six years old back at the time. I had even managed to teach myself how to read and write to a good standard from observing others around me, much better than those who were my own age. Plus, having an IQ of a genius, which I found out at a later point in my life, doesn't hurt. It had been two and a half years after the so called 'parent' I had abandoned me, that I had met Chifuyu and Ichika, like me they had been on their own. Chifuyu I believe, took pity on me and told me to follow her and so when I did; I pretty much became like their brother. The time before I met Chifuyu and Ichika, had been spent with… the life sized doll and metal eared bunny… *shutter* those times didn't end well! When I was able to leave, I didn't hesitate to grasp the opportunity to do so.

"What happened out there?" asked Chifuyu flatly.

Refocusing back on the present, I sighed while staring back at Chifuyu, "Do you mean before that crazy blonde Alcott lost it and was just being an idiot or when she became dead set on obtaining my blood as proof that she was better than me?" I asked flatly.

"When she started shooting without regard to where her shots were landing." Was Chifuyu's curt reply.

Nodding in understanding slightly I proceeded with the explanation, "So, after she was set on getting my blood it is then. Once I realized that she had thrown out all common sense and logic, so only her pride in control, which I shredded by that time in the match anyways. It was obvious that she needed to be put down and quickly, as much for the watching students as for myself. The quickest way I could think of was heavy impact, and as my unit is capable of going supersonic…"

I stopped at seeing the expression of incredulity on Chifuyu's face, "What?" I asked.

"Your machine can fly at supersonic speeds?!" demanded Chifuyu.

"Uh… yeah, not the smartest idea to go with in close quarters, especially not without a system that I disabled before the match that's for helping the pilot to keep in control." I answered, paused and then continued, "So back to what I was saying, when I came out of a turn; took a leaf out of your book, used the environment around me and created a dust cloud to blind my opponent. Then climbed up to an acceptable height before diving down, reaching speeds that were sightly over Mach 1 hitting Miss Alcott sending her slamming her into the ground. Following that, I managed to slow down, before my unit shutdown and I fainted."

Chifuyu sighed after my reiteration of the event, "Do you have any idea the amount of damage you caused and how much it will cost to undo it?"

I grinned a bit, "Amount, only small bits, so overall no; cost, not a clue."

Chuckling after answering, I fully expected the woman to hit me or do something that involved me feeling more pain than I already am. It would fit the pattern that had been seen thus far. I tensed up preparing for what I was sure would be coming, even closing my eyes so I didn't have to watch. However, the hand that made contact with my head, wasn't in the form of a fist, but was an open hand, ruffling my hair. My eyes shot open and I looked at Chifuyu, shocked to see a… smile on her face. "You can be an idiot at times, you know that Sai." she said.

It had been years since Chifuyu hadn't only smiled like that with me… but also treated me like a younger brother as she's used to. It had been, at one time, a common occurrence; usually when Ichika and I would come back from doing things together or when she was teaching us skills. "Doesn't everyone do stupid things from time to time?" I replied with a cheesy grin.

Chifuyu Orimura, IS world champion, ice cold woman; began to, of all things you wouldn't expect from her, laugh. "There are times I wonder if it was wise to leave you with Ichika as often as I did; you're starting to say lines that he would." She commented.

I snorted, "Whom do you think I learned such phrases and ideals from, big sis?"

Chifuyu kept smiling for a time, it had been a while since Chifuyu and I had been like this around each other. Yet after a few minutes, I could see Chifuyu was back on business, still I beat her to speaking. "Chifuyu, we need to talk about something, so might as well do so while we're here." The question had to be asked, so why not by me.

"That being?" Chifuyu replied.

"Well, first I assume you still plan to make me be class one's representative as Miss Alcott was disabled first, are you not?" I grumbled.

It was what I suspected to happen, even if I didn't want the job as I already have a full plate of things to do. My answer came when Chifuyu nodded at me. Well, perhaps I can compromise and improve my standing a little, and that's better than nothing. "Fine, as I doubt you'll let me refuse the post, I'll take it as unwilling as I am to do so. However, I have an issue with the job that I won't back down on."

Chifuyu was silent; taking that as my cue to elaborate upon my issue, I did just that. "Attending meetings with the student council as a class representative in the evenings or afternoons, are a no, isn't going to happen with me. If you haven't heard, which I find nigh impossible by this point, the headmistress has informed most if not all the staff that I'm taking college courses in the afternoon. My evenings, I do homework for those courses and that takes priority over the high school responsibility crap!" I took in a breath as I paused and kept going, "Technically, I already finished high school level education almost five years ago. You've seen the diploma that proves that I have completed high school… hell, you even attended my graduation… laughed your head off quite a bit as I recall. Lastly, between you and me Chifuyu, if it wasn't for the d… daang bunny…" I saw the flicker of sternness go across Chifuyu's face at me nearly swearing, "… She, having the fun that she so clearly does at my expense, above others. I wouldn't be here, but with her blackmailing me, I can't really get out of this without having a lot more sh-crap hitting a large fan!"

"Get to the point you're trying to make, Taichi." Said Chifuyu.

Okay, be blunt and simple… I can do that, "Fair enough Miss Orimura, I'm willing to be the leader of that bunch of girls who have little if any self-control over themselves when they're around me and even fight as rep for the class. But I won't go to student council, that cuts into time I use for college work. I pay much more for college then this place and prefer that environment over this high school setting. But, I'm stuck here for the time being… Is that to the point enough for you, ma'am?" I posed.

Chifuyu took the time to think about my conditions, then came the verdict, "Very well Taichi, that's acceptable."

-Flashback end-

And so, that's how I became first year class 1 rep. Didn't do any of the duties until Tuesday, why? I was totally out until Sunday evening, slept in the infirmary that night. Got out that next morning, was excused from Monday classes as I felt like a big rig had plowed into me and continued by running me over. I would need to contact a classmate at Cornell to make up for the lectures I would miss as I wasn't feeling up to going. The rest of Monday I took it easy in my dorm room to help speed along my recovery, spent the time going over the damage report from Corinthos. And… that wasn't fun to do! Oh boy, was there a number of things to fix with my machine, mostly the stabilizers… might need to replace them, hope not though.

When Tuesday came, I spent an hour before breakfast temporarily taking care of the stabilizer problem so that my MS would work decently. Then the first morning class came and went, was as boring as it always was to me. I can't blame Miss Yamada; after all, it isn't her fault I'm so bored. It's just I know more about the IS then she does. Chifuyu is the closest to having the same amount of knowledge on the IS, but even she doesn't have the same amount I do as one of the designers and inventors.

The day began to go along a different path during the second morning class, practical skills application of the IS. I was the first on the arena grounds as I got to go to the locker room first to change, a nice benefit being a guy here; the girls followed in ten minutes. With all of us in one of the arenas used for IS battles, waiting for Chifuyu. The girls were dressed in outfits that looked like racing swimsuits that enclosed around the neck for support instead having shoulder straps like one sees normally. They had blue embroidery along the outer edges and circling the neck like collar. Then, the fabric around the lower end, appeared to be acting like a skirt, though it was the shortest skirt that I've ever seen. The portion of 'fabric' didn't actually completely cover what a skirt would was higher than a short mini-skirt! The girls' Pilot uniform also had dark blue thigh high socks that went to their mid-thighs along with sneaker type shoes on their feet.

You know, the more I get the view of these 'uniforms' the stronger they remind me of Japanese style dark blue school swimsuits. I noted Houki was wearing the same style of outfit, she just had red embroidery rather than blue. Whereas I, was wearing the same ensemble as I did on Saturday and Sunday; the skin-tight black short sleeved muscle type shirt and equally skin-tight black shorts, which serves for my clothing for IS operation in my case. Finally, you got Miss Alcott's getup, she was wearing the same type of swimsuit like outfit as the other girls, but hers was a much lighter blue. Hadn't really talked to her… Not that I had tried hard; wasn't really that interested in doing so after the fight/match we had Sunday.

Now, speaking as a male, I'm certainly not ignorant of the differences between guys and gals. Learned enough with the health course I had been required to take among the general course load I've been working on. So, I'll admit that the girls in my class are developing in particular areas that these outfits do make rather pronounced, namely their figure with emphasis on their busts, waists and hips… some more than others. True as it is, I won't name names… plus, I don't know most of their names. But the point I'm making, I have learned control over hormonal urges that come in the teenage years and afterwards somewhat. A rather rare thing to find in a teenager I know, yet I have spent my time since a young age, with people that are five years older or more than myself. So, I have gained maturity at an earlier stage in my life than my peers, who are still working on it… not many of them are doing so very hard though in my opinion. I was exercising that maturity and control, that I would say speaks well of me at this time.

"Alcott, Taichi, you two, since you have personal units will be doing the demonstration for the class!" barked Chifuyu, which snapped me back to attention.

I'm chosen because I'm the lone guy in the class, aren't I? Yes, I have my own unit, but… oh well, do it to get this done for less crap to deal with. I focused on the task at hand, summoning my unit. When I took the time this morning to do some fixing with the Stabilizers, I also adjusted the settings so that I could call my machine anytime I wanted, that wasn't available before I adjusted things. "Come, Freedom!" I called.

Light surrounded me, I rose up and felt the restrains come into being; within seconds my unit appeared with me locked in, ready to go. However, I only had two of the wings sets, one over each shoulder instead of four in total like I did Sunday. It was part of the solution I came up with to get around the stabilizers needing serious work and not having the time to do so. Had to lighten the load to lessen the stress on the unit overall. The idea worked for now, but as I had confirmed this morning that I would need to come up with a lasting solution, not a short fix and soon!

"Now fly!" was the command from Chifuyu.

I leapt into the air, my wing thrusters igniting, shooting me upward. Got to thinking while I climbed upward; did I somehow piss off Chifuyu unknowingly? I knew the practical class would be more and annoyance than anything else. Granted, it gives me a chance to test… but my performance level is higher than the others in my class. My skills come from building, testing and my time that I was a test pilot… was younger back then though. Not to say that training with girls doesn't have a plus to it… yet, I'm used to observing and working with one that's on a world tournament participant level, so I can't compare this to what I'm used to… Guess it's no use worrying my head over this. I obtained stable flight and tried to answer how I could have ticked off Chifuyu; she had been in a good mood last I saw her.

"I must admit, your skills in flying are quite impressive." Came a voice with a British accent.

At the voice, I turned my head to my right and saw… one who looked like that blonde British girl that had arrogantly tried to show me up a few days ago and failed. Yet, she was… smiling at me without it being a smirk?! … Hmm, I didn't know she had a twin or clone… either that or she has lost an amount of marbles that are supposed to be in her head. This wasn't the same female teenager from before, that's clear enough. It took me a moment to process and understand what I was seeing and hearing, before I had use of my voice.

"Um… I beg your pardon?" was all I got out.

"Well, I was noticing that your skills at flying and they are good." Miss Alcott answered.

Staring dumbfounded at this blonde, back to being temporarily speechless… this can't be the same female fifteen-year-old I was forced to meet last week and deal with two days ago! Blondie here was being nice to me… and Cecilia Alcott wouldn't do that! … Okay… who's this blonde girl and what did she do with the Cecilia Alcott, which I have gotten to know over the last week? "Thanks… I think." I managed to get out.

"Perhaps we could compare flying styles later." Said Miss Alcott.

… This is getting creepy, Blondie here had done a one eighty from the female teenager that I fought and slammed into the ground two days ago and it wasn't right. Maybe the impact affected her in some way I didn't predict? I mean, made her plow pretty dang hard into the ground, even if her shield prevented serious injury… hit her at speeds just above Mach 1 for goodness sakes. Not like she gave me much other choice with how she had been acting back at the time. The fight had needed to end and quick, so my method delivered!

"Taichi, perform and high-speed dive and landing; Alcott you're going to do a power dive!" Instructed Chifuyu over the comm line.

After hearing the instructions… it gave me an excuse to get away from this girl that looks like the arrogant blonde I knew, who was beginning to creep me out, I began the dive. As I sailed downward, I picking up speed with my thrusters. When I was twenty feet from the ground, I pulled up sharply, had my thrusters do a hard burn, landing lightly on the ground making it looking like anyone could do it with ease.

"Taichi!"

I turned to Chifuyu at her yell and hollered my answer, "Yes Professor?"

"This isn't an opportunity to show off!" barked Chifuyu.

My eye brow rose at the bark, hadn't she just asked me to do a high-speed dive? I did just that, it's not my fault I do such things so well that it looks like I'm showing off. "I did what you told me to Miss Orimura, is that wrong now?"

Disengaging my unit and the next thing I know, I felt a hand dork slapping me; the feeling of my head snapping forward and downward. OW… D**n it! Chifuyu still hits hard! My head is still a bit sore from my experience Sunday. When I had gotten my head up and my brain to stop bouncing around in my skull from the hit; I saw that Chifuyu had walked over to the other girls in my class and was now giving them instructions.

"Oh my, how mean of Miss Orimura to say such things to you." Came the voice of Miss Alcott once more.

I spun around and noticed that she had a hand on my left shoulder. "I can deal with it."

The blonde adopted a worried expression on her face, "Are you sure, maybe you should go to the infirmary."

The feeling of my right eye beginning to twitch became present… This is just getting creepy, the difference between the Cecilia Alcott behind me and the one I fought days ago is like night and day! The way she was worrying over me… It's freaking me out, just plain wrong in the way which stalkers follow their targets! "I'm good, really. Why are you being so nice all the sudden? Last week, you were stating, to my face no less that I was a useless male… pig, I believe." I said flatly.

Miss Alcott frowned and looked… almost repentant, "Well, I may have let my previous notions about males get the better of me." Was the reply from Miss Alcott.

I resisted the urge to say that was an understatement, "Okay, if that's your way of apologizing, you know saying sorry works better for most Miss Alcott."

"I would prefer you call me Cecilia." Said Miss Alcott.

… This is just going to go downhill farther and farther, isn't it? I want to go back to Cornell University! Females my own age are so confusing, I can't read or predict their actions at all. I can do that with those at Cornell; I don't want to be around all these teenage girls anymore!

-Scene Change-

When I got out of my second lecture, I was heading to the cafeteria to obtain food; but was stopped by a few of my classmates. They said that they had a surprise for me. Although their smiles were kind of cute, I planned to kindly refuse and tell them to show me their 'surprise' later. Nonetheless, wasn't given the opportunity to say no or really anything, for I was grabbed by the girls and dragged off to wherever they had this 'surprise' meant for me was. It was as we approached the first year dorms, I began to seriously worry about the surprise and what it would do to me! We entered the dorms and went to the common room, where I was blinded by a flash. I blinked several times to clear my vision of the light that had blinded me. All the girls from class were in the room and the room was decorated for a party. "What in the… What's going on here ladies?" I asked to the room at large, biting back the cursing I had almost said.

Miss Nohotoke appeared in front of me, "Why, it is a party for you becoming the class representative!"

The hell…? This girl… how did she…? and more to the fact of the matter, where did she pop up from? I couldn't sense her approach me at all… and I should from the training in the various forms of martial arts. The next moment I'm able to register, I was surrounded by half the class all talking at once. They were congratulating me… flirting with me and all sorts of things they did to me. Expertly, I managed to extricate myself from the gaggle of girls in ten minutes and made my way to the table with food as I was looking for dinner. My second lecture in prosthetics had been a complicated one today, the college courses were beginning to pick up and so the load that was required was increasing as well. After getting dinner in my stomach, I milled around… looking for a way out of this, I have homework to get to!

I began hearing some of my classmates talking about how neat it was for me to be their leader and represent them on the student council. It would seem I'll need to clear things up about what me taking the job of class rep actually means. I cleared my throat loudly to get the attention of the girls in the room, "Okay, listen ladies, it sounds like you have a little bit of the wrong idea. Yes, I'm first year, class 1's representative; that means I will be the class leader and fight in class tournament. I'll not be doing anything with the student council, someone else will be doing that, which Miss Orimura will be choosing soon. That's how it is and will be ladies, you don't like that, sorry that's not my problem."

The girls… cheered at what I said. … So, none have a problem with my partial representation; good to know. The party continued and it took me around a half an hour to slip away from the party and get to my dorm room. Once I closed the door, I slid to the floor, "Too many girls… flirting with me without letting up… I'm a guy, even I have limits to how much control I have over instincts of nature. If this goes on much longer with no change in how things stand, then I'll either be forced into participate in something along with another female or multiple, that we shouldn't do at our age, or I might do something I would regret unable to stop myself!"

Letting out a shuttering breath before getting to my feet and heading to the desk. I set my bad down at the side of the desk and took out my Calculus II book and Quantum Physics and set to the work I had. Was able to finish my quantum physics problems and had began calculus, when Houki entered the room, which was about twenty minutes later. We looked at each other for a moment, before she said, "So you did come here, I wondered if you had gotten here when you disappeared."

"Yeah, there a problem?" I answered.

Houki shook her head. She got ready for bed, while I finished up the set of math problems I was doing. By the time Houki was stepping out of the bathroom I had just finished putting away my homework and so, I took my turn to use the bathroom to change for bed. Following that, it wasn't long before we both headed to bed.

-Scene Change-

The next morning, which was Wednesday; I was sitting at my desk, waiting for one or both our teachers to show up and begin the lesson. Wasn't really paying attention to the talking from my classmates around me; after all, I'm not interested in gossip, not fond of it at all. I think that gossiping is a complete waste of time and only creates problems and misunderstandings… Has been proven and is proven on a daily basis by the media alone.

"So, inter class league matches are going to happen soon right?" came a girl's voice

So the matches are; yeah, for me, that task is coming up for me since I'm class 1's rep. My mind was more thinking about my Quantum Physics and Calculus lectures that I had this afternoon… ah! Now those are courses I enjoy going to, much more than this academy's education curriculum. To be in a setting with others that at a closer academic level as me, it's wonderful.

"Yeah, in two weeks I think." Said another female classmate.

"Say have you heard the latest rumor?" said a voice I actually knew. The voice belonged to Yuzu Tanimoto, the red haired girl from those three who had come to have breakfast with me sometimes. 

Perking up my ear at hearing that line, I listened to what was being said. I may not like rumors and gossip, but that doesn't mean that such things can't bring up facts that you don't know before. I'm the unwillingly class one's rep to an extent; nevertheless, it would be a good idea to know about some of the other first year reps… Hopefully this 'rumor' would provide some facts about the other class representatives. Sure, I may have gotten Chifuyu to let me off the responsibility of attending student council meetings, but I still am the 'leader' of this class of girls… and also will be fighting in the previously mentioned league matches. Information on your opponents isn't a bad thing to have!

"… The representative for class two has changed apparently." Replied Miss Tanimoto.

"Yeah, some transfer student I hear." That was from a classmate I wasn't familiar with.

"… At this time of year, really?" answered Miss Tanimoto.

My thoughts exactly, a transfer student? At this time of the school year… that's rather odd if you ask me. Something doesn't add up in this… I hope this doesn't add to my already loaded plate of things I'm dealing with. With classwork increasing, I don't need more shoved on me!

"Supposedly she's from China." Informed Miss Tanimoto.

Once again, I have to admit that I'm impressed at how girls gossiping can have this much information on someone they have never actually met. It's scary at times! But China… the same country as a friend back at the college campus. Wonder how she's doing after a few weeks since I left? She didn't take me leaving for Japan well; poor girl was crying her eyes out… while squeezing the life out of me or that's how it felt.

"I wonder if she transferred here to study my techniques." Came blondie… I mean Cecilia's voice.

… I see that her ego and pride have fully recovered from the blow they took when Miss Alcott lost to me Sunday. Really can't tell which is worse, her usual arrogant prideful self, which I've come to expect, or this new blonde that looks like Miss Alcott but is… nice to me to the point it's getting more than just weird and awkward!

"What do you think of this transfer student Sai?" asked the bubbly voice of Hoone Nohotoke.

What the… where did she…? Okay, there will be the need to keep an eye on Hoone Nohotoke, she can appear out of nowhere! Taken aback a bit with suddenly being asked what my thoughts were on this; I took a moment to think of how to word my reply. "Well, as I've never actually met this girl from class 2, I'll admit I'm kind of curious. However, I'll reserve judgement on her until I meet her; so, I really don't have thoughts on this new student, girls."

"It should be fine, the only classes that have students with a personal IS, are classes 1 and 4." said another female voice from behind me.

Turning, I found myself looking at a blue haired classmate. Her height was as I estimated at four foot ten. The blue hair went down to her shoulders in the back and framed her face in the front; dark pink hair clips keeping her hair from getting in front of her eyes. Her ocean blue eyes complimented her hair and face. She was wear the normal academy uniform like pretty much all the girls wear consisting of the white blazer with long sleeves, white dress shirt and skirt that appeared to connect to the blazer.

"I'm sorry, I don't think we've been introduced, you are?" I asked.

The girl giggled before she answered me, "My name is Shizune Takatsuki, Mr. Taichi."

I waved a hand in dismissal, "Please, No Mr.; just Sai. I'm not fond of formalities myself."

It was seconds after I said that, the door to the classroom slide open with force and banged against their stops. Thinking it was Chifuyu as she did open the door like that… when she's having a bad day; I didn't look up. I had no desiring to add fuel to whatever might be making our female professor be in a bad mood.

"You would be wrong about that! Now where is your class representative, Sai Taichi?!" Said a young female voice.

At hearing my name and said in a voice the clearly wasn't Chifuyu, I glanced to the doorway from the hallway and saw a girl who I have never seen or met before now. She stood at I would guess to be four feet and eight to nine inches in height, probably eight and somewhere around a half I think. As I stared at her, I began to take in her other features; this girl's eyes were a deep green with a bit of blue mixed in. Her hair was slightly light brown and went down to her waist, though currently was tied in twin tails that were on either side of her head, tied with yellow ribbons. She also had two section of hair that framed her face on both sides. The figure the girl had was petit, but not overly thin. Her uniform was a variation of the normal one, the blazer she wore was the same color and basic overall design, but the shoulders were open and skin was visible and her hands were poking out of sleeves less than they would with the normal uniform. The rest of her uniform was like the other girls' uniforms except socks that started just under her knees and she was wearing shoes that were a cross between hiking and combat boots. With what the girl said, everyone in the room was silent at the demand.

"Did none of you hear or understand me? Where is she?! Sai Taichi… your representative." The brown haired girl again.

Now, are my ears deceiving me, or am I being mistaken for being a girl? … Finally, perhaps I could have some amusement to enjoy that doesn't require me to put forth a great effort! Now normally, I would feel insulted with being mistaken for a female, but… in this instance, it's for whatever reason, funny to me. One would thing by my name, it would be easy to tell that I'm a guy and not a girl, but apparently that's not the case. Let's see what reaction I get from correcting this… hope it's interesting! I drew attention by clearing my throat, yet before I had the opportunity to say a thing, I had a glare directed at me from this girl.

"Who are you and why would there be a boy here at the academy?!" She asked.

Well… I didn't expect that. Before I spoke, I noted that this girl wasn't actually looking at me very hard only taking in basic details, and so, she only glanced at me long enough to see I'm male. "Pardon me miss, but I would be Sai Taichi and I'm clearly male, not female. However, as the students at this school are all female other than myself; I suppose the mistake can be made on my gender before seeing me in person. But now that you know that I'm here, what's the reason that has you in this classroom to see me about Miss… now that I think about it, haven't heard a name for you yet. So, please do introduce yourself and then explain your reason for seeing me. It's only good manners to introduce yourself first." I said this in a neutral tone of voice.

"I'm Ling Huáng and… wait… you say that you're… Sai Taichi…?"

Miss Huáng's voice had stopped midway asking if I said if I was myself. Apparently, she didn't know and wasn't informed that I'm 100% male, a guy or whatever term one wishes to use for the point. When I looked at her face though, my thoughts came to a halt for a moment, seeing her expression was one of awe and shock… and by the look of it, she had a blush developing; she thinks I'm attractive… like most of the other girls here do. I kept my cool and held my indifference as this for me was just meeting another girl… and that has been happing rather often lately… kind of how it goes when you're the only guy in a school of over two thousand. I nodded, "That's right, I'm Sai Taichi."

A minute passed and then Miss Huáng shook her head, and it was like she changed into a different person than she had just been. She walked over to me and bowed, "I'm sorry for the earlier outburst. That was rude of me, forgive me."

… Hmm, this is a bit of a first here at this so called school; a girl apologizing to me… and I think meaning the stated apology. Yes, she probably has some other ulterior motive, but I'll give her the benefit of the doubt for the time being. "Sure… it's okay Miss Huáng, I'm kind of getting used to girls overreacting around me." I replied slowly, holding in the amusement I was feeling grow in me.

Miss Huáng smiled at me and… well, she does have charm and beauty, I won't deny it. Kind of reminds me of someone else that I know actually. "Thank you, you're so nice… and I prefer that you call me Ling or maybe even Rin." Miss Huáng said or as she wants to be called by me, Ling or Rin.

I was quiet for a moment, before I answered, "If you insist Rin; So, you had something you wanted to ask me, did you not?"

She had come to the room and stated that she wanted to see me. Rin began twisting shyly from side to side, admittedly, it was kind of cute the what she's doing. "Oh well… it wasn't anything that important really. I came to see who the representative of class 1 was… and I'm glad I came to see as I met you…" Rin was saying.

I flashed a calm smile at Rin and as a result, heard many of the girls in the room sigh wistfully. It wasn't my intention to cause that, just happened on its own! There came a bang on my desk and, glancing calmly to my left to see Houki and Cecilia glaring between Rin and me. … my my, the atmosphere in her is getting dense in here… the increasing emotional air was coming from Houki and Cecilia and even Rin. This would be why I avoid getting involved with jealous girls… it's not worth it at all, just causes trouble! The problem that prevents me from ignoring this whole developing debacle; I'm the cause of these girls' jealousy or rather they're jealous of anyone who has my attention that isn't them. Admittedly, Houki was controlling her emotions better than Cecilia and Rin was just glancing between the two other girls, trying to figure out their relationships to me, were I to give a guess.

So, to recap, I have many girls vying for my attention in various forms of flirting and for three girls specifically, are close to fighting one another. This is just peachy, yet I don't want any of this! I'm doing nothing to ask for this or to try to acquire the attention and affections of the females around me. Most of these girls are just fascinated by me as I'm the only guy around them and so throw themselves at me. For Houki, Cecilia and Rin, I would say they're very much infatuated with me. I'm no idiot and in turn can see they are drawn and are attracted to me. So, why might I not be enjoying this to the fullest like some guys would? I'm used to dealing with females that are twenty years of age or older; in other words, women that are not letting their hormones run rampant and free.

"What's going on here?!" yelled an all too familiar voice that I hear every week day.

All of us in the classroom looked to the doorway and standing there, was professor Chifuyu Orimura… and she was looking non-too pleased at the moment… no, if looks of emotions could do damage, Chifuyu would be tried for assault at a bare minimum… more likely attempted murder by how she looks right now! Chifuyu's gazed locked on to Rin in under ten seconds as she wasn't one of her students. "You there, Miss Huáng; your class is class 2! Now get to your homeroom!" barked Chifuyu.

… Good GOD! Chifuyu isn't only looks mad, but sounds like too. … I don't like the looks of this at all! She's getting close to the point that she would be willing to do serious damage to someone… makes me wonder what put her in this state?! Haven't seen her in this angry of a state for a while; the only time I've seen her any worse than this, would be when Ichika was killed! The woman had been out for blood and would have murdered those that remained, had she known the force of navy seals that had been with me, had taken the three that were alive into custody… she would likely have attempted to kill me back then! … Couldn't blame her back then either, was sorely tempted to do the same after seeing what the captors… had done to Ichika… had called in a serious favor when I found out Ichika had been kidnapped and gotten the services of the Seals… long story as to how the person that owed me could get that. But another story, for another time I think.

Rin noticed Chifuyu's mood like I did and made the best decision in heading for the door, but she stopped before leaving and waved at me in such a way that said that I would see her later. She headed for her classroom after waving at me and class shortly began.

-Scene change-

Chifuyu's bad mood continued throughout the class period and the room was TENSE! Lunchtime couldn't come fast enough with how the atmosphere in the room was during the lesson, I certainly didn't have a single thought of nodding off! Nonetheless, lunch came thank goodness! And I was out of that classroom as soon as I could get out, not wanting to be around Chifuyu any longer. I grabbed a bowl of ramen a few rice balls and a plate that the lunch woman called 'Yakitori', which I've heard is chicken on sticks seasoned with a couple of things. All the food smelled pretty good, kind of reminds me of some of my friends back at the university. On that thought, memories about those I had left back in America, specifically the circle of friends came to mind.

The first friend from my circle, I used to see a lot of the time, was a twenty-two-year-old guy by the name of Mathew Oscar. A true blue old-fashion American from the day he was born, came from back around the western US. He had been my roommate for the two years I had been at Cornell and he was still able to stand the young resident genius at the university… I'm not a hard person to get alone and live with, just the hype I get for being as young as I am and going to college… well, hard to not crack under that kind of attention. It's more having to live with someone, you learn a lot of things about that person that you wouldn't find out about otherwise. And I had learned a good amount about Matt that I wouldn't have otherwise.

Matthew had a height of five foot eleven and was on the thinner side of the figure spectrum, but he wasn't a 'stick'. He had three-inch length straight hair that was light brown the color of cinnamon. His eyes were the same color of his hair and had… the quality that drew in the girls… don't ask me what it is, I haven't the faintest clue. Even with the double dates I've gone on with him, still don't get how he does it, just know he has looks that girls very much like. He also had a country drawl in his voice and it sometime made him hard to understand at times, but somehow adds to his likability. Overall, he has and is a loyal friend to me and… Gosh d**n it, I miss him… even his… dumb puns and rural/country comparisons he learned on the ranch he grew up on. The things he would say and think they were funny, when they weren't… they were pretty bad. Was a Mechanical Engineering major, which was his contribution to helping with my unit. Let's just say he knows a lot about getting parts of machines to work together and work right than many that I know!

The next in my circle of friends was one of the first women that I didn't just respect, but actually wished to be around. I say that, whereas with Chifuyu, who I respect, but don't always want to be around or the bunny and doll who I don't respect or want to be around at all. Back to my female friend, she was twenty-three years old, and has the name of Cassidy Mets; like Matt, she's an American… yet, where Matt is a country guy, Cassidy is a city girl. She grew up on the east coast of the US, around the Jersey area. Cassidy stands at five foot five, with a pretty defined hourglass figure. She had long dirty blonde hair that flowed down to the middle of her back in impressively thick and silky locks. With her blue eyes, Cassidy can easily be considered a 'knockout' in the looks department. Most guys that didn't know her would tend to focus on my friend's chest, which I estimate to be an F in size. How might I know all of that? After almost two years of knowing each other, I would think I would know and then… we went on a few dates over the last two years, three to be precise.

As an example, during my freshman year for Homecoming, Cassidy had asked me to go with her; originally it was to help her get out of having to go out with a horrid jock that was pestering her. But it had developed into being fun for both of us and a much better time than my first date had been earlier the same year. Cassidy was studying Advanced System Programing and it was her major, which was helped me and my unit nicely. Yet, her experience as a former member of the United States IS team which won the smaller tournament that takes place between the Mondo Grosso that occurred every three years. It had been two years ago, and that was invaluable knowledge. Cassidy was also the first woman that I have been hugged by and not felt sick and reacted badly to, curtesy of the Bunny's and Doll's years of smothering me.

Then there was a guy by the name of Luther Smith, who was Mathew's and my roommate last year. Was an American like my first two friends, yet he was the 'stoic' type or comes off as such and with his height of six foot four… it just hammers the stoic impression he gives off. Luther could be seen as handsome with his thick three-and-a-half-inch blonde hair with has smooth and regal facial features. He does wear glasses, square lenses that are rimless; but that didn't detract from him at all. No, what seems to put off so many people, was his eyes; they were gold and the pupils were smaller than average. I never saw that as something to have a problem with, but quite a few people do. His major is advanced Architectural engineering with emphasis on mechanical architecture. Yes, that includes ISs and he knows his stuff. What had been surprising to me, was the sense of humor he possessed, which you wouldn't expect from someone like him. Luther could crack me up, have me nearly rolling on the floor with a few well said and timed lines! An awesome guy when you get to know him!

My second female friend, which I met the second semester during my first year at Cornell, was a foreign exchange student from France, named Olivia Beaumont. She was a red headed advanced weapon design and ballistics major. Olivia had a height of five-foot four, so the same height as I have now. Her red hair was long and straight, went down three fourths of the way to her waist. The young woman usually kept it going down her back so that she had no hair running down her front at all. Olivia also tends to wear two star shaped hair ordainments two and a half inches above her ears on either side of her head. Her light blue eyes have a twinkle to them that adds to her cheerful attitude she has. Her figure is pretty streamlined, I think her chest is around a C in size, though I can't be sure as I have never asked nor gotten close enough to check.

Even with her being from France, I would've thought that she would have a good grasp of the English language before coming to the United States, but she had struggled at first. It had taken me time to understand what she said, her pronounced French accent made the English she did speak harder to comprehend. Yet, once I had managed to, I had discovered she had a simple childlike wonder of things and so was amazed fairly easily. Plus, I started picking up the French language from her during my second year at Cornell and am now fairly competent in it… not fluent, but good enough and we talk to each other in French, which she seems to like. Olivia's knowledge in weapon ballistics and design had been wonderful! It had assisted in some of the weapons that I haven't used yet with my MS.

The final member of my gang, is a twenty-year-old woman by the name of Jia Xuan and like Olivia was studying abroad in the United States. Her home is in the south eastern section of China in a town named Chongqing. An energetic young woman with the height of five foot two, yet she's a living example of the phrase, 'don't judge her by her size' when you're taking in your impression. Jia might be compact when it comes to body frame, but she packs a painful punch with her unseen strength she has! In fact, she was the one who had taught me the basics of Kung Fu, one of the forms of martial arts I have learned thus far. She has black hair that goes midway down her back when its let down; though she tends to wear it in two braids that stick out on either side of her head. Those braids somehow defy gravity as they stick out at forty-five degree angles and stay there every time I see her. Then she also has two buns on either sides on the back of her head, normally covered with colored cloth… white is the most common she uses. With chocolate brown eyes, most would say she is very cute… and that's before you take in her figure.

Like Cassidy, her body was the shape that of an hourglass; from the young Chinese woman's E volume chest to her twenty-one to twenty-three-inch waist circumference, I would estimate, give or take an inch or so either way. Then widen out to her thirty-two to thirty-four-inch hips… in other words, she has an Hour glass figure and it's something that's hard to deny. It's probable that some of her figure can be attributed to her consistent practicing of Hung Fut, the Chinese martial art. Simply put, she was fit! I assume as a way of showing pride in her country her normal clothing choice, that consisted of a Chinese cheongsam. The piece of clothing is a body-hugging one-piece dress that the west knows as a Mandarin gown. Doubtlessly, the piece of clothing only shows off her impressive figure with how it looks on her. Jia's major was Advanced Energy Research and Application, which fits working with an IS very nicely. She had been helping on the prototype shield we had been developing for my unit, we just hadn't gotten it to work efficiently yet. And then, she always was an optimist and made it contagious among the rest of us in the group.

The reason my friends were coming to mind, was the smell of this food reminded me of Jia's cooking… the girl was amazing in the room that the culinary art takes place in known as, "the kitchen"! I may know how to cook food to eat, Jia knows how to turn raw food and meat into a meal that you can't help but drool at the sight and smell of! The feeling of familiarity brought the pain and aches of missing those I had been with for more than a year. I've had really good and fun times with all of them and I had been looking forward to having more with them this year… that's before the d**n near dead rabbit hopping forced me to come here. Bet she thought it would be great fun to force me to do other things and have a d**n good time laughing at my expense with the sh*t that has been and will possibly happen! Hence, when I find that woman, I plan to make her understand the consequences of messing with another's life, namely mine… it WON'T BE PRETTY!

My friends had accepted that I wouldn't be at Cornell this year, but not all of them had taken it as well as others. Jia especially hadn't handle it well… I think she was excited to teach me more Hung Fut, and she did appreciate the tutoring I did for her in a subject or two last semesters and she had needed it to an extent… she might need more this semester. … It had been nearly heart wrenching to have to watch the poor girl ball her eyes out… would have been if she hadn't been squeezing the breath out of me while doing said crying, but that's how she is. She is one of the few females, that can hug me and I not react with revulsion, she just doesn't know her own strength or how to manage it sometimes. The others in the gang had to separate us by pulling Jia off me before she incapacitated me. I sighed at reminiscing about how things had gone before I had left for Japan.

"Would you mind some company?" asked a feminine voice.

I looked up and saw… Ling Huáng? Wasn't expecting her to find me again already… that's not half bad at finding me; I'm pretty good at not being notice when I try. Motioning for her to take the opposite side of the booth I was sitting in; she quickly did so. And so, ensued a bit of getting to know you small talk between myself and Rin.

Rin started telling me a bit more about herself; she'd lived in Japan years ago, but due to marital problems between her parents, she had gone to live with her father in Hong Kong. In the end, her parents had divorced and she had been the one who had suffered the most by the sound of it from her account. I wouldn't know about what it's like to go through parents divorcing. My mother died due to illness… I was young, so can't really remember her clearly. My… _father_ , well… he blamed me for my mom dying and abandoned me when I was six… that's after giving me some parting 'gifts' that I could have done without… Still am not able to forget about them as the gifts he had gave me were permeant and served as reminders of what he thought of me. The scars have never fully healed, even with the years that had gone by.

As for what I said to Rin, since she told me a little of her history, I did tell her a bit about my earlier years. I didn't go into Great detail and just went with general events that had happened to me. Not much to say with my childhood as it wasn't a nice time of my life, was classic case of a parent abusing their child by the end. Then the time with the bunny and doll came and my life was never the same afterwards. Well, I can't say that the rabbit and the porcelain doll had always been hard to be around. They had started being fairly nice to me… deteriorated from there and hasn't really stopped with the hasenpfeffer, but still.

It hadn't been until I crossed paths and met Chifuyu and Ichika when my life had taken a turn for the better. It was with those two that I had my first real experience of what being part of a family was like. Chifuyu's and Ichika's parents had already… disappeared as Chifuyu had said, but I could tell that wasn't what had happened. Their parents had left like my old man had done to me. The other thing I didn't really mention was that I had completed my high school education. I don't know how the girls here would take that just yet, so best not to say that I have done the level they're at now.

The conversation was going rather nicely, when there came the second loud bang of the day on the table. Glancing to the source, I was looking into the faces of two very irritated girls and three girls behind them; and I knew all five girls. In front was Houki and Cecilia and for whatever had their… panties in a twist, they looked very miffed at me. I think I can guess why they would be irritated with me and the reason irked me! Behind them was Miss Nohotoke, Yorutake and Tanimoto standing observing this even play out.

"What is the meaning of this?!" shouted Blondie.

"Yes, how do you know this girl?!" barked Houki.

Keep control! …it was hard to not lose my control over my emotions and yell at them for hovering over me and acting like they own me as one would an object or animal! I resorted to doing a breathing exercise that Jia had taught me to calm down, helped me to keep my control; before I jumped into this. "Okay, first of all; get ahold of yourselves girls. Second, I was just getting to know Rin here and she did ask if she could have lunch with me before sitting here and I said yes." I answered with a controlled tone.

"What… if you wanted company you could have come to me." Cecilia replied.

My right eye started a twitching at what Cecilia had said. Sighing before I went on, "Honestly, I don't have a preference whether others eat with me or I eat alone. If someone asks to eat with me, then it's unlikely for the time being that I'll say no."

"What did you mean get ahold of ourselves? We're fine." Said Houki.

Really? … I beg to differ greatly. It's times like this, being a gentleman is very hard. "The way you ladies have been acting says differently and I'll leave it at that right now." I slid out of the booth and grabbed my tray that had my empty dishes and began to head towards the kitchen return counter. But I turned back for the last word, "Now, I have classes to attend soon as do we all this afternoon, recommend you girls think about what I have said, good day." And with that said, I returned my tray and dishes, then headed off to my quantum physics lecture.

-Scene Change-

I had retired for the evening and was about to get started doing homework for my calculus class; however, my thoughts revolved around the upcoming class tournament my head. My unit still needs repairs… plus, just needs work in general to get my MS running better and more smoothly. To be honest… doing the job by myself isn't feasibly possible with how things are, mostly with the girls around me being the cause of time loss. With how the girls in my class alone are trying to hold my attention during daylight hours pretty much every day, and then add the other girls here in the academy… that's just eating up any spare time I might have. So, I foresee that should I try to work here at the academy, then the girls will track me down and demand that I pay attention to them rather than the work needed on my MS.

Stopping studying the equations that I was going through, I put down my pencil and leaned back in my chair. The best scenario would require me to have help and a way to get away from these hormonal control challenged females for a period time to do work on my unit. Well, perhaps I can solve both parts of this problem with one action; call a friend and ask… for assistance, beg if necessary. Therefore, taking care of the two issues with one 'stone' as it were. Without further hesitation, I took out my cell phone, pushed the '2' button, which I had set to a number for speed dial. Hearing three rings, before there was a click and a voice came on the line, "Howdy duty, this is Matt Oscar, what can ah do for ya?"

The drawled voice was that of my friend Mathew Oscar… and it was wonderful to hear him! It was to my best friend that I turned to in my time or need. "Matt, it's me, Sai."

"Well, ah'll be! A mighty fine howdy to ya Sai, and a goooood mornin' to ya too friend, to what do ah owe the pleasure of this unexpected call?" asked Matt in his country drawl.

"Well, Matt; first it's evening for me on the other side of the world, but I'm calling because I have a favor to ask… and… it's big. You see…" I started.

And so, I began telling my best friend about what I had been going through the last two weeks approaching three soon. About having to deal with the girls flirting with me nonstop and not leaving me alone. Of how my unit, though operational now, needed serious repairs and work after what I had put it through, to get it to acceptable working status. Bypassing the stabilizers and rerouting control pathways, had temporarily handle the problem of my machine relying on them for managing flight and me not doing most of the work. Right now, with the stabilizers out of commission or just about, the managing of the small corrections and the other things that make flying easy fell to me, more to me than the equipment and systems that normally do the task. In short, they need to be fixed or replaced before I enter actual combat. With the females around me demanding my attention every chance they get, I don't get time to work on my unit.

Once I finished I waited for Matthew's reply, "Whoo-whee! Gotta say Sai, certainly sounds like ya have gotten yourself into quite a bind over there, like havin things go bad when drivin cattle on the range. So then, what's this favor ya mentioned needin?"

I took a deep breath preparing to ask what I wanted, "I'm asking you, along with the rest of the gang to come to Japan for a time and help me fix and tune up my unit. I'll even pay for the plane tickets. … Please man! I need help here! You and the others are the only ones I can turn to for this! I'm begging you all, help me out here!" I got out, but the first signs of stress and desperation that had been building in me began to be heard.

There was silence for half a minute, "Ah can't speak for the others just yet, but ah'll ask 'em… the problem ah see is we still have classes here at Cornell. We can't just leave and not attend, that's like not doing mornin milkin! Ah can tell ya, them bovines don't take that kindly when you don't milk 'em, more libel ta get a kick to the gut by 'em more like." Matt returned.

… His country comparisons are… odd, but I was ready for the difficulty that he brought up, "I can talk to the head of the IS academy and get permission to use the image transmission system that I use to attend lectures. That way you won't miss anything. PLEASE!" I said quickly, the tone of desperation increasing and the last word was my cry for help that I don't use with anyone other than my friends… and only when it's serious! To me, if this wasn't an emergency, then there is little else that is!

"… Holy St. Mary Sai! Things have got ta be harsh there, if ya are that desperate to have the gang's company. Ah feel for ya my friend." Exclaimed Matthew.

My head banged down on the desk and I let out a mix between a sob and a small howl. It told the story far better than words ever could. I brought up my head a little before I spoke, "You have no idea! I'm surrounded by girls that I swear will at some point drag me off somewhere and jump my bones or something! Whether I want to or not, kicking and screaming bloody murder the whole way! Help a fellow guy and friend out Matt! I'm begging you!" I pled… Thank God the walls in these dorm rooms can block most sound from being heard from outside… though I only say that for the moment… won't if I'm dragged off!

Matthew laughed, "Yee-ha… Sai, ya know that most guys would be happier than a tornado in a trailer park being in that kind of situation! Ya cozyin up to any fine lookin gals over there yet?" he asked snickering while he did.

"Yeah, I'm sure some guys would; not me though. And no, I'm not cozying up to any here, I'm not interested in that type of relationship… more worried that some of them will assault me!" I replied.

"Pity my friend, ya missin out with the warm company that gals can provide Sai. But look, ah'll ask the others, then ah'll get back ta ya with their answers as soon as ah can. And as you sound like ya are in a situation that's stickier than a barrel of molasses; ah'll do this like I would finish my chores back home when my gran's bakin her famous apple pies!" Was the reply from Mathew.

I paused before I answered, "Okay then… you do that; talk to you later Matt." I said back to my friend.

"Sure as shootin like a Texas ranger trackin down a no good varmint ta throw them into jail! Ah'll get back ta ya as soon as ah can. Keep your chin up Sai, like you're going to the county fair for the whooole day!" said Matt before hanging up.

The phone went silent as Mathew hung up. I groaned before I looked back to my school work and decided to get back to the grind stone. Houki returned to the room around forty-five minutes after I got back down to work with my homework. We exchanged greetings, I merely glanced up for a moment, said hello, before going back to my schoolwork. My roommate grabbed clothes and headed to the bathroom to get ready for bed while I focused on my work.

Another half an hour past and Houki exited the bathroom. I began to rub my eyes by this time, which were getting hard to keep open; I began to think that it would be wise for me to get ready to get some sleep. So, I finished up the section I was working on, was putting away my materials, when a knock was heard at the door. Pausing to glance at the clock to see the time, the gears in my brain began turning as it was after nine; who would come rapping at the door at this hour? … I get the sudden urge to say 'nevermore, quoath the raven' for some reason… don't know why, could be from the English class I took last year… oh well, doesn't really matter right now. It was Houki that answered the door and in came… Rin?!

Houki was as surprised as I was, and she was the first to voice the question I would think was on both of our minds right now, "What do you want?"

Rin put her hands together, "Well, I was thinking we should switch rooms…" Then she went into a spiel as to why Houki should switch rooms and Rin herself, should become my roommate. Okay yes, I have seen the signs that Rin Huáng has an interest in me as a male that's more than just a passing interest, indeed likely infatuation. Ironic, isn't it? That I just got done telling my best friend about this particular aspect of the collection of issues and woes I have here, and now, it's being proven in front of me. It's getting annoying to the point that it's fan-freaking-tastic! Not a single one of these girls here, has taken a moment to consider how I feel about what they're doing with relation to me! No, they're too focused on snatching me up for themselves to care about what I think about all THIS! … No, I must keep in control of my emotions, even if it's difficult… proves that I'm a mature adult when my peers are less so.

"You say that I should switch rooms just so that you can be Sai's roommate?!" growled Houki.

No sh*t Sherlock! At least I'm not the only one who can see past the excuses that were being used, Houki can seeing them too. I've had begun to wonder if I was the only one to see the inferred meanings that girls here put forth… or care. That's all I heard when there was a clang and when I looked to the where the girls were. I saw Rin had one arm deployed an IS arm that was blocking the wooden sword Houki was using from her kendo bag. Anger welled up in me… Keep… control! … D**N IT! Enough is enough! Rushing forward, I got between the two girls as they were going through the motions of attacking one another again. Deployed both arms of my unit; caught the wooden sword in my right hand and the IS arm in my left hand, stopping them both.

"ENOUGH!" I bellowed, "Break it up you two! Or so help me, I'll personally toss you both out of this room right now and lock the door behind you!" I said in a loud voice.

Surprisingly, the girls took a step back and stared at me; Houki dropped her wooden bokutō and Rin dismissed her partial deployment. Normally, I'm able to keep calm, cool and collected around others when it comes to my emotions; but with this event, I snapped and lost that control. The anger of being treated as less than an individual person, got the better of me… To be seen and treated as an animal or pet by some of the girls here was just wrong to me. Then from the rest, they were just seeing me as some kind of stud horse or gilded stallion, which is almost the same as the previous view. It felt like I was surrounded by children and I was one of the main baby sitters that's extremely underpaid! "You two teenage girls are acting like five-year-old children throwing a temper tantrum over a toy! Act your age and grow up, both of you! Or else, you'll sleep outside this room in the hallway tonight and I'll bar the door to make sure of that! You can deal with Miss Orimura and tell her why you're out there… I doubt she'll be all that understanding." I nearly yelled.

Both of the females flinched and back up a bit at my yelling. This is really the first time I had resorted to raising my voice to speak, and I can be heard when I want to be. I was breathing hard, yet I took the time to calm down before I continued. "Listen, both of you; first, room assignments are made by the dorm manager. So, you want to switch rooms, you go to Miss Orimura, I doubt that any reasoning that has been stated will convince her to let anyone switch rooms. Second and more importantly, I'm not some kind a prize, pet, or toy for one of the girls here at this academy to win! I'm a free man and I'll choose who I spend my time with. There are standards I have for members of the female gender that have an interest to be around me. If those aren't met, then I'll ignore them and if necessary, get a restraining order placed on them."

Regaining a modicum of control, I turned to my bed, "The current arrangement is fine to me; now ladies, as it's evening, recommend you go to bed as there is school tomorrow and curfew does come into effect in less than an hour." I finished and left no room for argument.

I grabbed clothes and went to the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind me. It was ridiculous, how these girls are acting! They're going to drive me nuts! I hope with every fiber of my being, that my friends come here, even for a little while. I have missed them so much and the maturity they have that the girls here don't. Plus, I fear without the company I'm used to, I won't stay sane much longer! Taking time to calm down and let the rest of the anger I was feeling drain away from me, before changing for bed. I left the room and enter the main part of the dorm room, seeing that Rin had left. I know I had blown my top to a degree, but I think I'm justified, and I'm human, so I'm not perfect. These girls at this academy have been treating me as a prize to be won, some kind of pet, or an object up for grabs. I'm an independent person and male period; I expect and WILL be treated as such! Tolerance can only last so long before it is no longer enough. I turned towards the bed, yet stopped, seeing Houki at the desk. Her face was one of confusion, bafflement and shock, for some reason… can't begin to guess why she would look like that.

"Hey Houki… what's caught your interest that would have you looking like you do?" I asked.

My roommate grabbed something on the desk and spun to face me and held up something for me to see. "What is this?" Houki demanded.

Blinking at the question, I looked at what my roommate was holding in her hand. She held a page of paper full of scribbles. On closer inspection, I realized that the page of writing was one from my Calculus II homework, which I must have missed when I had been putting away my stuff when Rin had come. … Uh oh, the fact that I haven't said anything to anyone here other than the administration about being a current college student came to the forefront of my mind. I mean, the staff of the academy know that I take courses with the Image Transmission or IT room they have here. I would assume parts of the student council know too as they were the ones to deliver the key to the room. However, no one else has any idea, I just tell them I have some different classes should any others here ask… which isn't a lie, but it's not the full truth either. And here I am, with clear evidence that I can't deny, that I'm a college student, being shown to me. Crap, I haven't prepared for this idea just yet; I thought I would have more time to come up with a way to placate!

Houki closed the distance and thrust the paper to be inches from my face so that I couldn't miss it, "I asked what is this?!" She repeated firmly, giving me little option to wave this off.

Doing some quick thinking, I tried to see if the there is a way out of this without telling Houki I'm a college student, yet not lie at the same time. "Um… schoolwork." I said hesitantly, smiling slightly.

Houki's expression shifted to irritation, but then, I wasn't being very convincing with my answer. "Schoolwork, you say? I have never seen anything like this! …And now that I think of it, you don't go to high school core classes in the afternoon, where do you go?!" she asked.

Surprised that it took her this long to notice I don't go to the same classes in the afternoon as the rest of our classmates. I've been going to lectures for approaching three weeks now, yet none have asked or as far as I know even noticed that I don't attend the same classes. Well… I guess there is no way out of this anymore, it's come to the point that I have to tell her the truth. Probably best that it was Houki that found out of all the girls it could have been in my class or this academy. She will likely be able to understand my position of receiving attention from EVERYONE here, being the Dr. Shinonono's sister and all. I exhaled in a huff, "First, that page is indeed schoolwork and I'm not surprised that you haven't seen anything like it. Second, I take different classes in the afternoon."

Houki either didn't accept my answer or didn't like that I hadn't answered her completely, "Then what class is this for?"

"Math, specifically second year Calculus or Calculus II as it's more commonly referred to as." I said simply. She has proof that I'm taking an advanced class… Among the four I'm currently enrolled in, there is no point in saying otherwise now.

My roommate stared at me for a moment before glaring at me, "The academy doesn't offer math courses that advanced, even for the third years or fourth year grad students; now stop lying to me!" she shot back to me in a slightly louder voice.

Gazing straight at Houki with an expressionless face, I shook my head from side to side. "Do I look like a person that would lie for the heck of it? Rarely do I lie, normally won't say the whole truth or don't say anything at all rather than lie. Plus, I know this academy doesn't offer Calculus I and so won't offer Calculus II either, which that page of work is for… technically, I'm studying at a college level. I'm a sophomore at Cornell University to be precise." I stated calmly.

Houki just looked at me with her mouth slightly open. I kept going in the hope that my roommate might understand why I haven't mentioned this fact, "Look Houki, I get more attention than any other student in this academy; I don't need nor want more by the fact of me actually being a college sophomore becoming common knowledge making it worse. Being the d… that b…" the habit of not cursing was striking me with a vengeance, Houki was looking at me with worry, I sighed before continuing, "… _Tabane…_ Shinonono's sister, I would think you can understand the wish for less attention because of something you can't change, more than anyone else here." I said to her.

The girl in front of me came out of the trance she was in, "But how can you be in college? You're fifteen, aren't you?" She got out.

I nodded, "technically I'm sixteen, but the same age range as you, yes. I'm very smart to put it simply, made some of the doctors that tested me on intelligence speechless, apparently my scores on the IQ tests were surprising. I got my high school diploma when I was eleven. Let me tell you, it's awkward to walk the graduation line with the rest of your fellow students, when they're seven years older and also sizably taller than you… even the girls." I couldn't help but think, 'And having to listen to my adopted sister, Chifuyu Orimura laughing exuberantly for the latter half of the graduation, pretty much after the line finished the walk.' Held back the winch at the memory and continued, "Please Houki, don't say anything about me being in college to anyone else; I have enough problems without that adding to it." I asked her nicely.

Houki seemed to be thinking about something, "If you're in college, then why are you here?"

Flinching and gritting my teeth at having to remember why I was here. Yet, I can't just come out right and say that the infuriating rabbit which is Houki's sister; currently is blackmailing me, can I? Even if I mention the hasenpfeffer, doubt Houki will just let a question like this slide without telling her to whom I'm referring to. "Well… I'm not here by my own choice exactly… I was… cohered into coming here… the alternative is something I really don't want to happen … So, unless I want something very horrible to happen, I don't get a choice but to be here. Please don't ask further than that. I don't want to talk about it." I said flatly.

I grabbed the page of schoolwork and put it into my schoolbag that was by the desk, before I went to the bed and threw myself onto it. I have no idea how things will play out, now that someone other than the staff know I'm actually a college student.

Chapter end!

 **A/n**

 **And there's chapter 4. Yes, Rin is infatuated with Sai for now. Sai has blown his top for the first but not the last time, yet one blame him? Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please write a review and say what you think, and I try to answer the best I can. Peace out all!**


	5. Friends

**A/n**

… **I knew this was going to be a longer chapter than the last one, but… I didn't think it would end out being this long! Anyway, I think I mentioned before that this story has loosely followed the story of Infinite Stratos to an extent; well this chapter does not do that. In other words, this chapter is where the story starts to shy away from the story from the anime, manga and lite novels. But fear not, that doesn't mean that the fun and hilarity ends for the protagonist! There's still going to be much of that, along with action and all the other stuff that makes reading fiction enjoyable! I only own my characters and musing, nothing else. Enough from me, on with the story!**

Chapter 5

Friends

Right now, I'm not at the IS academy this Friday night; no, I'm not doing anything wrong. The policy which students are to live on the campus in the dorms helps keeps the female students and 'myself', out of trouble as well as for the adults to be able to keep eyes on us; is one that I understand. I'm not so happy with that method of application of the said policy, though I get no say in the matter. The upside to how the policy, is there is a way to get permission to leave the school grounds for a time, namely the weekends. For me that offers an opportunity to escape the girls that might drag me off or just won't give me a moment of peace. Hence, right now I'm in Tokyo at this time and that's for two reasons; to get time without being surrounded by only females and the other reason I'll get to in a moment.

Back to me leaving the campus on the weekend, it requires obtaining permission from a member of the administrative staff and informing one's dorm manager. I had asked for permission yesterday to leave the academy grounds, specifically the headmistress. Of course, Chifuyu was one of the two first year dorm manager and is in charge of the dorm I'm in. So, I had taken the time to inform her that I would be out after class on Friday and she was cool with me being gone. If anything, I think she understood that I needed time away from the other students, in short, she had noticed what I had been having to deal with. The second reason as for me to leave the campus, to meet up with some people I'm expecting to arrive soon enough. Failing to mention that said people were good and close friends from where I had originally planned to go this year was not unintentional, I saw no reason to say that detail With anyone other than the head of the school.

You see, when I had made my request to Matt on Wednesday evening from my perspective, Tuesday morning for him back around New York; which was to ask everyone else in the circle of friends. I had out right begged Matt to ask for the others to come and help me here in Japan, even if it was only for a short period of time. I'll accept any help from those who are willing to offer without an ulterior motive. None of the girls would fall into that category that I have seen, and I don't know if any would in future. My reason I told Matt, may have been the need of work on my unit was piling up and with… my fellow peers and their actions that involved or included me, was absorbing any spare time I had after college lectures and homework. Even if I attempt to refuse and say no to the girls when they come and asking me to spend time with them or 'play' with them. They won't take no for an answer from me, since they had a tendency not to listen to me. My real reason, was that I wanted to get time with those I'm more accustom to being around rather than girls who are stressing me.

Yet, I still did need help on working with my MS unit, more so with the class league matches coming up. I was getting downright desperate, only having a partially functioning machine… that's a detriment for me in competition! It has always been hard for me admitting that I require the assistance of others. I like to think that I don't need the help of others all the time, that I can do things for myself. But, I'm man enough to say, I need help, when I know I do.

Anyways, my friends at Cornell are the only ones right now that I trust working on my machine or even have the knowhow to do the work that I hadn't been able to do; repairs and finishing up parts and systems of my unit. … Plus, I want to see friends that I was forced to leave three weeks ago to come here to Japan specifically this place. This school, where I've been floundering among thousands of girls pulling me in multiple directions. Nevertheless, at the current moment, I was in a good mood; it started the same night that I had called Matt.

-Flashback-

I jerked awake at hearing a rumbling… a pause and then another rumbling again; I've always been a fairly light sleeper. So, the rumbling… or whatever was causing the noise was loud enough to wake me up without much of a problem. Glancing around to locate the source of the rumbling noise, and finding that it was coming from my bedside table, particularly from my cell phone. As I was laying on my stomach with my right arm was under me, I rolled over and swung my left arm around to reach the side table. I missed grabbing the phone twice before I glanced over to see where my hand was. Once I had picked up the buzzing rectangle, I looked at the screen, the display informed me that I had a text message. Seeing the time was 12 freaking 30 in the morning, I grumbled. My mind began wondering with who could be texting me at this ungodly hour of the morning that most, if not all were sleeping. I can only think of two viable reasons; one they don't know I'm in Japan and not at Cornell at Ithaca, the time difference being the eastern standard time zone compared to where I was now, in the Tokyo time zone, there's a fourteen-hour difference. Or someone is playing a dangerous game of pranking me and I don't take kindly to that!

Looking over to the second bed in the dorm room, I saw the form that was my roommate Houki and judging by her breathing, she was sound asleep. She's a heavy sleeper when she drops off, or so I've found out. Deciding to just look at the message and make a decision on what to do about the sender afterwards. I unlocked my phone and looked at who was texting me… took me a moment to realize that the text was from Matt. Reading his message and my brain becoming more active as I read it a second and third time. Matt's text was the answer to my cry for help I made to him hours ago, it had just come quicker than I had expected.

According to the text,during the dayd ue and me worryuld be gone Friday after class and might not get back before curfew.I had been having to deal wi the other four in my circle of friends had agreed to come here in answer to my call. Getting out of bed and going over to the desk and turning on my computer terminal. I started look into the things I would needed to provide Matt and the gang to travel here, namely plane tickets. After finding said plane tickets, which weren't cheap in the slightest, especially for five people who would be flying from New York City to Tokyo, Japan. Although, I was buying on extremely short notice, so that's the high price one pays to get tickets for five. I almost emailed the tickets and flight info to Matt, but I thought better of it and sent the data to Cassidy and Luther as they are the more responsible ones of the gang. I turned off the terminal and went back to bed, in a much better mood with the knowledge that I would be seeing the gang this weekend.

-Flashback end-

Thursday passed by much the same as most weekdays had thus far here at the IS academy. Eat breakfast while being stared at off and on by most of the girls, which was followed by going to morning classes. Then came lunch, afterwards came my college lectures and school work; simple you would think? If it wasn't for the girls flirting or gossip about flirting with me and act like I can't hear or notice them, it would be simple and clear sailing. Still, I stick to the proverb as follows, "Attitude is a little thing that make a bit difference" and so again it is in this.

I did stop by the head's office, as I would need to make arrangements for my friends to use the IT system like I do while they're here. Thankfully, they have some of the same classes as I did and we would need only two different rooms at the same time and there were three transmission rooms here. The headmistress had no problems with my request and gave permission when I had explained why my friends were going to be here to help me with my unit and that they're college students like I am. The head even gave me full permission to leave the campus on Friday. The other thing that I did before turning in at the end of Thursday, was inform Chifuyu that I would be gone Friday after class and might not get back before curfew, which she didn't have a problem.

Friday passed slower than the day previous, I think more because I was waiting for the evening to come, when the gang would arrive and provide me with a modicum of peace. And as is the adage, when your anticipating sometime with excitement, the passage of time feels slower, even if it isn't in reality. Keeping my spirits up with effort through the day, I trudged through the last school day of the week. The minute that lectures were over, I had raced back to my room and grabbed a travel bag. I had prepared said bag the night before with things to keep myself busy during travel time and was all but running to the front gate. Once off campus of the IS academy, I headed over to the train station and caught a ride to Tokyo.

And that's why I'm here at the Tokyo International Airport, after taking the two-hour train ride from Shinkrai the town that the IS academy is in. Spent the train ride doing some catching up on my nanotech schoolwork, I've been falling behind in a bit due to difficulties with time management and all that's included with it. Once in Tokyo, there was just the fifteen-minute walk from the station to the airport. To say I was excited didn't say what I was feeling; I could barely contain myself! And why shouldn't I be excited?! In less than an hour, I would be seeing all my friends from Cornell… and these last three weeks here, had shown just how much I've enjoyed and liked being around them over the last two years. I've missed all five of them terribly while being here with huge numbers of girls who have been flirting with me and becoming bolder with the time that's passing!

Getting through security took me a little bit of time, but in the defense of the security personnel, they were being overworked and understaffed. The lines of people that were going to fly to other destinations in the world were sizable and didn't seem to shrink at all, no matter how many people went through. I got in the line that was just for those who were waiting for people arriving and that line was moving faster than the passenger lines. Once I was through the scanning devices and grabbing my bag, I went off to search for the gate that the flight that was bring my friends here.

My attention was caught by the screen displays that were positioned above the walkways in the airport. They displayed flight arrivals and departures times and found the number that was the flight my friends were on and saw it still displayed, 'On Time'. As it was currently 6:40 pm here, the flight I was waiting for was due to land at 6:45 pm; and then, all that was left would be to wait for the plane to be unloaded. Lastly, the gang and myself would need to retrieve their luggage… having dinner as well at some point while we're here. I was getting hungry… hope that dinner will be soon… maybe looking for something here in the airport while I wait for them would be a good idea. Ended out deciding to do some scoping out for possible food places as I waited… my stomach rumbling and making itself heard could've something to do with my choice. Doing some research… I looked on a map of the airport and to see where the six of us could do dinner. I had found some possible places, when I heard the announcement that made my evening!

" **Flight number 2216, from Los Angeles, now arriving."**

YES, that's their plane, they're here at last! Sensible company that won't make me fear for my virtue, self-control and sanity on close to an hourly basis during the day! Making my way through the crowds; I'll admit, I got a tad more aggressive than I should have been, pushing people aside. But d**n it, I wanted to see the rest of the gang ASA D**n P! So, with lots of groups of people both big and small… in my way and I want to get to the gate! So, sue me for pushing through the people walking and standing around the airport… wasn't really rude about going through the crowds, I tried my best to nice, didn't succeed with everyone.

Took me a little less than ten minutes to reach the gate that the plane I was waiting for was at and saw that the Boeing 747 jet had taxied to its place and the off ramp had just been extended to the plane for the passengers to leave the plane. I watched the first few people started exiting the aircraft; it felt like there was a clock spring being wound tighter and tighter in my chest with the anticipation that I was feeling right now. That winding spring cinched much tighter as I spotted a head of three-inch straight brown hair that I knew very well; the face and the rest of the body that followed only went to confirm who it was. My friend Mathew Oscar; he was currently wearing a blue shirt under his brown natural leather jacket and a pair of jeans with his ranching cowboy style boots on his feet. Matt saw me, I dropped my bag and rushed forward towards him smiling broadly as I called his name, "Matt!"

Not caring in the slightest what others around thought of me, I embraced Matt like we were brothers. He had dropped his carry-on bag that had been on his shoulder and hugged me back, "Howdy there Sai, great to see ya! Hasn't been the same with ya here, ah gotta tell ya friend. Roomin with Luther without ya… let me tell ya, it's mighty quiet… like nights back on the range around the ranch. He don't talk much unless prompted to… but ya already know all about that wouldn'tcha Sai." Matt said to me.

I even have to admit that I've missed his country drawl! We separated after a bit, both of us smiling. For me this was the second genuine smile that I have had this week, the first was when I had read Matt's text saying that everyone agreed to come… it's sad I know, but true nonetheless. "Welcome to Japan Matt, how was the trip?" I inquired.

Matt chuckled a little, "It's nice now that we're here, but the flight to get here was longer than a full day of drivin cattle around the valley. Either that, or ah feel like ah've done a mighty long day's hard work around the ranch that's as hard as drivin. We headed out Wednesday before the rooster crows to say that's time to be out of bed and… what day is it now around these parts?" Asked Matt.

"It's Friday, evening to be exact, 6:45pm Tokyo Standard Time, so around a twenty-four-hour trip from Newark Liberty International Airport in New York City to get here to Tokyo, accounting for the time zone change of course if I'm not mistaken." I finished the sentence and answering the question that my friend had asked.

"And then don't forget the four-hour drive from Cornell campus before getting to the airport. So, technically we headed out at midnight Wednesday." Came a female voice.

Both Matt and I glanced back to the doorway to the boarding ramp which the voice had come from. Catching sight of a long dirty blonde haired woman that was just stepping out of the boarding hallway. My friend Cassidy Mets, was sporting a maroon long sleeve blouse under her grey sweater along with jeans and sneakers. I held in the snicker that was in my throat, "Isn't that pretty much considered a road trip Cassidy… wait a second … who was the driver of the car the five of you took to Newark Airport, don't tell me that it was him?!" I said this pointing to Matt.

Matt burst out laughing at my question; Cassidy rolled her eyes, but I caught a small smile on her face. She strode over to where I was standing by Matt and she hugged me which I returned, "You look like you're doing okay here in Japan… with the challenges you're currently dealing with, though it's good to spend time with your peers your own age Sai. I would assume you're supervised as you and your peers have hormones run high and rampant, I would guess. And to answer your question, who else do you think that those of us that think ahead would let get behind the wheel of a car… a rental no less, Luther of course." Cassidy turned her head to look at Matt who was still giggling at my question, pointing a thumb at him, "You think any of us would let this giggling country boy drive with us in a car?"

"Ha ha ha, hang on there one cotton pickin minute Cassy, that's bwa ha ha ha, not nice ta say girl." Gasped out Matt, however, with him giggling as he was saying that, made it hard to take what he said seriously. Cassidy just shook her head and walked over to Mathew and began to berate him, but then, she was the serious and responsible one in the circle along with Luther. I watched the two and felt joy swelling in me at the beginnings of what had become normal for me over the last year and almost a half.

"SAI!" cried an energetic high female voice.

Uh oh… INCOMING! Wasn't able to turn in the direction that the voice that had called my name, but I don't need to do so to know what I'm about to experience. Still, even when you know what's coming, it doesn't always prepare you for the magnitude to come. In this case, seconds after hearing the cry, the force of the impact that collided with me was hard to take as it was pretty much spread to my whole upper body from one side. Through the impact I couldn't mistake the feeling of two legs wrapping around my hips along with a pair of arms encircling my neck; though the voice was the unmistakable identifier of whom it was clinging to me. However, the most noticeable thing… well, was the sensation of soft pillow like masses pushing against my face… more encompassing my face, as I had just enough time to turn into the line of impact. Stumbling a good five feet to counteract the power with which I was hit, before regaining my bearings. I managed to keep upright… was a near thing, but I still kept on my feet even with me being top heavy now. I took in a breath, finding it was still possible… with this event… that wasn't something that I could take for granted.

Felt the nuzzling motion and the giggling from just above my head. "Iss good do see yu Giha." I said. I had been trying to say 'it's good to see you Jia'. However, my voice had come out as muffled gibberish… thanks to my head being pushed into Jia's cleavage.

"Oh Sai, I missed so much!" Cried my Chinese friend Jia Xuan as she 'hugged' me.

With my brain registering the forward pull into my friend's chest; I was able to tell that whatever Jia was wearing was red and had a silky feeling to it. Jia was likely wearing a Chinese style cheongsam that wet of her knees with a slit in one of the sides, she likes that style of clothing and wears the style often. Back to the embrace The Chinese woman had me in and how she was squeezing herself to me, with my face was being engulfed by Jia's bosoms… yes, this is the reason I knew what Jia's boobs felt like. Jia Xuan has pressed, pulled and buried my head and face into her cleavage many times since we met and got to know each other. And she was doing so once again pressing my face into her chest or pressing her chest into my face, take your pick of which way you say it.

"When you left, it was so hard with you weren't around. You have always helped me with the subjects that I don't understand… I missed you so much Sai!" sobbed my Chinese friend happily as she continued to hug me with her entire body and forced me to stumble in a drunken like fashion in random directions based on which way Jia leaned.

I had, quite some time ago become used to how open Jia Xuan is with showing that she likes someone and giving them affection along with showing her feelings. So, this 'hug' of hers, she was giving me isn't a surprise… no she didn't do this every day back at Cornell University. However, she did give me a hardy squeeze often enough for this not to be strange. Jia has loads of energy and I've learned to just let her do what she will, since there is nothing I can do about it, as long as she doesn't crush anything, it's fine. Normally, I have problems with people hugging me and with the majority of them, I get a sickening feeling from the gesture, yet Jia is one those that doesn't give me the sick feeling. Plus, what guy wouldn't appreciate not just being hugged by an attractive young woman, and with her assets pressing against you. Even I can't deny that it feels nice, but I know that Jia doesn't see our relationship as a romantic one and unlikely will in future. … Yet, as Jia began pressing me into her tighter, it started getting harder to breathe. Attempting to gain space to breathe, I pushed against Jia; however, I was unsuccessful.

"Quoi! Jia, laisse le partir! You are going to crush and hurt him Jia, so laisse le partir je dis!" said a French accented feminine voice, alternating between the French and English languages.

The pressure that had been stealing my ability to breath, went away and Jia then stood next to me instead of glopping me to her. I collapsed to my hands and knees taking in large deep breaths to recover from the trouble I had breathing in Jia's embrace. That's before I glanced up to see red hair I knew belonged to the French woman I knew as Olivia Beaumont… she still looking out for me when Jia is around me, bless her for that! She was wearing a sheath style dress that was a violet color; and have an open cardigan style sweater over the dress with dark brown knee length boots to complete her outfit. When I got my breath back, I smiled at her, "Bonjour Olivia, il est agréable de vous voir… comment allez vous?" I said to Olivia in good French.

Olivia, seeing I was okay, came over to me and grabbed either side of my face with her hands. She brought me up to a standing position and kissed me on my right cheek and then my left cheek… it's her way of greeting 'a friend' as she tells me; but I haven't seen her do that to anyone else. Not that I see this action as a bad thing, I have often heard French greet others with a simple kiss to the cheek, so I'll go with that. … Yet with Olivia… I don't know, she and I are good friends, but it could be more.

"Bonjour Sai, Je fais bien, comment avez vous fait lorsque vous avez été ici au Japon?" asked Olivia.

It took me a moment to process what she had said took me a moment… after all, I've been speaking in Japanese for the last three weeks and English before that as my main language, so switching languages takes some time for me as it's a shift in my mind. I thought about how to reply; Olivia and I, when we talked to each other on a friendly basis and not on an academic, we often spoke in French. "Je ai eu des jours meilleurs, mais je vais apprendre à faire face à la façon dont les choses ont fonctionné pour moi. Cependant, je dois dire que d'être… entouré par les nombreuses jeunes filles que je suis à l'Académie… ne rend pas facile de faire face." I answered her.

Olivia laughed softly and smiled a little wider, "Très bien, très bien mon ami!"

Smiling at Olivia's comment of how my life was going. "It would seem that you have kept yourself from being dragged away by girls your own age, that's good. However, judging by you being stressed and exhausted to an extent, you're still being harried by them a fair amount." I turned to see the speaker was none other than the last, but certainly not least of the gang, Luther Smith. He is kind of hard to miss with the height he has… more so in Japan, Japanese average height is under six foot, so Luther towers over the locals. Currently wearing a white dress shirt with a black vest over it and a black bowtie; along with a black pair of Dockers.

"Good to see you too Luther, stoic as ever I see. … Out of curiosity, are you dressed up that much for a reason?" I said coolly.

Receiving a shrug and shake to the negative, I was turning to the others. Luther was quiet and comes off as reserved, though that's not the way he really is, but that's not the point at the moment. He tended to dress to a higher and nicer standard than those around him as his current appearance proves. Makes him look kind of like a host or waiter of some sort. As I was facing the others, Luther spoke up again, "Hmm, did you know there's something written on your back Sai."

Turning back around to Luther, studying him; There are times like this I can't tell if he's being serious or trying to get me to laugh. But hey, I'll bite… for the hell of it, if this is a joke, then I could use a laugh right now, "Oh yeah? What does it say?"

Luther had the straightest face a person could have, "Says, 'I'm a broken chick magnet that can't be turned off; girls catch me if you can."

… I couldn't help myself, I burst out laughing at the joke and its delivery from Luther. Like I said before, the man can crack me up with one well timed line! And what he said was so true, as with how the girls at the academy would throw themselves at me, figuratively speaking… who knows how long it will be before it starts being literal?! Everyone else joined in on the round of laughter.

Once we had managed to calm down and pull ourselves together, we discussed what to do for dinner, which we agreed upon a genuine Japanese restaurant. As we ate, we also caught up with what had been going on for all of us since last we were around one another. It was when Cassidy asked about the house I had rented for them while they stayed here in Japan, that we got on to the point of needing to catch the train back to town before they stopped running for the night.

We headed to the baggage claim and got everyone's luggage, before going to the train station and we were able to catch the last train bound to the town with the IS academy. The ride back, there were few on the train itself; I mean, the six of us had one of the cars to ourselves. Our conversation revolved around classes and current events at Cornell, which I loved doing. Once the gang and I got to the right stop, it was a ten-minute walk from the station to the place I had managed to rent. That with the plane tickets… I would rather not say how much that had cost me in dollar amount. I could afford it, with some of the things I have done over the years for those in the American government… I've been paid money for over half the favors I done.

I was glad that I had already done shopping for the basic necessities, because it took thirty minutes for everyone to settle in to the place… there were some disagreements about who got which room. You see, this place is a four bedroom, two and a half baths, two story house. Was able to rent it, but it had to be for six months, which the gang won't be staying for that long… wish they were. However, I see this as a place of retreat for me if things go bad at the academy.

So, the basic layout of the house, the first floor had nine rooms; the front door comes into the foyer. On the right of the foyer was a study like room, to the left of the foyer was the living room, straight ahead of the foyer is the kitchen. The dining room is left of the kitchen and to the right was an open area that led to a great room for talking and spending time with others. In the open area was a breakfast space for the inhabitance to have… well, breakfast. Across from than was the laundry room and a half a bathroom. On the right side of the house was a garage housing. The living and sleeping quarters were all on the second floor, the master bedroom, which was the largest of the bedrooms, was on the left side and with the master bath took of the furthest left third of the second floor. The second bedroom was directly across the stairway that's in the foyer. The third and fourth are on the right third of the second floor and between them is the other full bathroom.

Back to the disagreement; the ending result of it, was that Cassidy and Olivia took the master bedroom, Luther got the center one, Matt took the room in the corner next to Luther and that left Jia the front corner bedroom. When everyone was settled in we gathered in the great room and I laid out what the current status of my MS was and what needed to be done, then what I would like to be done. Our discussion went on so long that by the time any of us checked the time, it was nearly 10 pm, too late for me to make it back to the academy as it would be locked up for curfew. So, I just stayed at the house and roomed with Matt, it's not like I'm not used to sharing a place with him, done it for almost two years up till almost a month ago.

-Scene change-

Woke up the next morning, looking at a ceiling that I didn't recognize; after a full minute to comprehend that I was in the house I was renting, with my circle of friends. That was confirmed when I heard muttering from my right and when I looked over in that direction saw Matt. Still mutters in his sleep I see, for some reason, as light a sleeper as I am, his muttering doesn't wake me up at all. I got up and headed downstairs; glancing at the clock, which showed it was 7am, I headed to the kitchen. I wasn't all that surprised to see that I was the only one in the house up at this time. In the breakfast area, was Cassidy, sitting at the lower table that Japanese houses have, in the floor level seat. Olivia was looking through the cabinets and refrigerator, seeing what I had gotten in the food and supply department.

We greeted each other, before Olivia and I started to prepare food for breakfast. Olivia cut fruits and mixed them in a bowl for a fruit salad, while I was putting bread in to toast. Once the food was ready, we brought it to the table and so, the three of us had breakfast together. Following the meal, Cassidy made a call to someone, saying before she did that she might have an idea of a place we could use for working on my unit. I won't complain if she can get somewhere to work on my unit. If we don't have a different place, then the only place left is the IS academy and I would prefer to not work there. The simple fact as to why I would like to go elsewhere to do adjustments and repair my unit, because at the IS academy, I would get little work done due to the interruptions from girls wanting me to do activities with them as it is Saturday, a free day for them. That's my problem working on my unit, I don't get free uninterrupted time to do actual work with flirting girls wanting to have my attention.

Once she hung up with whoever she was talking to, she turned to me, "Sai, I managed to get permission for us to work at the AIS R&D facility that's a little more than an hour's drive from here."

If I was in a cartoon, my jaw would have hit the floor, but as this is reality, had to make do with my mouth hanging open since I was speechless for a moment. When I found use of my voice I had to ask what came to my mind. "Cassidy… you're talking about the Asake Infinite Stratos Research and Development facility, the most advanced research facility in Japan if not one of the most advanced in the world, that's the place you're talking about, right?"

"Yes, that's the place." Said Cassidy nodding, "Not what you want to work with?"

Cassidy had a tone of mirth and sarcasm, "Are you kidding?! That's like asking an explosion enthusiast if they want a small explosive over a large one; the answer is Hell No! I'm more amazed that you got that kind of place to use! How much time can we use it for and will there be people on hand to help out?" I replied.

Cassidy smiled at my reply, "Well, we'll see, you should go gather the equipment that you need then and Luther and Jia will pick you up and your unit in…" She looked down at her watch, "… around an hour."

Nodding at what my friend said, wasting no more time, I grabbed my travel bag and ran out the door. I sprinted to the station and grabbed a ride on the monorail, I went back to the IS academy; there were supplies that I would need for the job the gang and I would be doing today! The first stop on my quick trip to this place was the IS bay to get my unit ready to be moved. I probably could've done without such actions, as Corinthos will respond to any member of my circle of friends, but better to be safe than sorry. Took me twenty minutes, and that put me at about forty in total since I headed out, so I had twenty or so minutes left until Luther and Jia got here to pick up my machine and myself and we head off to the place Cassidy managed to get the use of. Still, haven't a clue how she was able to get permission to use one of the most advanced development centers for ISs in Japan; but I won't question her in that. As she had been a world champion… well, wouldn't doubt she has connections in interesting places. The same could be said of me, I know people that most wouldn't guess in their wildest dreams.

Anyways, I met no one either on the way or in the dorm Building, to which I was thankful at the moment. It's not that I detest girls, females my age or teenage girls; it's nothing like that of the sort, my issue is the girls here smothering me… knowingly and unknowingly… whenever they get the chance. I would just like a break to breathe and not have to deal with newly sexually aware girls throwing themselves at me. Is that too much to ask for even part of a day? I don't think so.

Got to the room that Houki and I share, finding that my roommate was out, yet another bonus right now, luck is with me! Something tells me that Houki would either interrogate me in the form of a reprimand or just demand to know where I had been last night with some kind of object in hand. The girl had been getting a tad possessive of me… actually, more than just a tad, but anyway. I grabbed my computer terminal, shoved it in to my travel bag and quickly left the room heading back to the entrance to the IS academy.

Admittedly, I wasn't watching where I was going as much as I should have, too busy thinking ahead to what fun and good times there were going to be. What opportunities to see and work with equipment I haven't gotten access to since… being around the two women who can really be considered my full intellectual equals, one of which is the reason for being at the IS academy. I'm of course, referring to the d**n bunny blackmailing me! Still, have yet to find out where that woman is, maybe she thinks that hiding from me will save her from the consequences that she has coming from me; I'll show her How wrong she is!

So… silly me, I didn't see a girl coming out from around a corner as I was briskly making my way to the front gate. Needless to say, there was a collision and both the girl and myself fell to the ground, my head hitting with a sizable force. I ended out on the bottom and the female's head pressing into the crook of my neck. It took me a couple of moments to become aware of my surroundings again as I hit the ground fairly hard. Noting the girl who was now laying on top of me; a few things were instantly clear once my head cleared. First and foremost, the female laying on me was well-endowed when it came to cleavage. Yes, I'll be the first to openly confirm that there are teens here that are developing more than others, but this one was towards the top of the spectrum with chest size. Certainly couldn't miss the feeling of her chest pressing into me, kind of reminds me of Jia's. Second, there was a faint smell of cherry blossoms in the air now and I swear the scent was familiar. Looking down, I found myself viewing dark purple hair… oh my… this just got a lot more awkward! The one on top of me started to stir, "Um… not that this isn't a flattering position, but uh… how long do you intend to lay on me Houki?" I asked with a bit of a nervous tone, trying to keep a professional air.

To speak on my behalf, I ain't used to being THIS close to Houki. It is a personal policy that I get to know a woman before I start being anywhere near this close. The head that the purple was attached to, shot up and my roommate Houki was staring at me, her dark blue eyes into my dark reddish brown eyes. Her face was like five inches from mine; we stayed like this for about a minute. Houki's face began to draw closer… Oh no, I don't think so! I don't do that at this stage! Slammed the door on my libido that was doing what it does to convince me to do things that I find immature at this time. Those were my thoughts, until two other voices were heard.

"Wh-What is going on here?! Miss Shinonono, remove yourself from Sai this instant!" shouted the voice of Cecilia Alcott.

"If I knew that was what was going to happen, I would have been in front." I heard Rin say out loud.

… Oh boy, the trio of girls that have been giving me more grief than the others. Knowing me, this is only the beginning of the fun at my expense there will be today, especially if Jia appears. Don't get me wrong, Jia is an awesome friend; girl can have you smiling in a minute or less, no matter how depressed or mad you can be! The thing is, with the way she expresses how she feels… and the lengths she goes… well, it certainly wouldn't be the first time there could be a misunderstanding. My right eye began to twitch in annoyance to the developing situation.

Houki got off me and scooted back three feet all within five seconds, all with a pink blush on her face; it was kind of comical in my opinion. My roommate then, after calming down a bit, glared at me and my mirth disappeared, "And where were you last night?! You never showed up at dinner and never came back to the room." demanded Houki.

And I thought I had been able to avoid getting asked where I was last night, apparently not. No reason to lie about what I was doing, I have nothing to hide. "Well, as it was the start of the weekend; I went off academy grounds to see some friends I know. Got caught up catching up with them, lost track of time and ended out staying at their place." Was the calm reply I gave as I stood up.

By this time Rin and Cecilia had closed the distance between where they had been and where Houki and I were. "Friends? I did not know you had any here in Japan." Said Cecilia.

Gee, Cecilia makes it sound like I don't have a life outside the academy… or one that she has any right to know about if I choose not to inform her of. "Well, they're visiting as it happens and so I went to see them." I answered nicely as I picked up my bag with my terminal in it… thank goodness it's durable. Cassidy and I did make this piece of equipment to take a beating and keep on ticking and running, to which I'm once again thankful.

"Sai!" said an all too familiar highly energetic voice.

Speak of the devil, I had wondered when she would show up. I tensed up, preparing for the imminent impact. And d**n! Did my Chinese friend like she always does, deliver! The embrace wasn't like the one I got at the airport last night, Jia didn't leap at me. Her feet were on the ground, but I still felt her crashing into me and wrapping her arms tightly around me pulling me down and into her chest. "Sai, you meanie! Cassidy said that you left this morning before I got up so that I could hug you this morning!" pouted Jia.

Jia was clutching me so tight that breathing was difficult and I was gasping for air… woman doesn't know her own strength! I tried to tell her sorry and for her to ease up on the hug, yet all that came out was unintelligible mumbles that were fairly muffled. Within half a minute, I was struggling hard, though Jia didn't really notice. It's not like she ignores what she's doing, more like she doesn't notice the full affects of her action.

"Jia, if you expect an answer, then you have to let him breathe. You're hugging Sai so tight that you're cutting down his air supply. Please contain yourself." Came the voice of Luther.

My friend's hold loosened and I gasped sweet oxygen back into my lungs! However, Jia still kept a hold on me, but switched it to being from behind so that I couldn't collapse to the ground. "Thanks Luther, you're a life saver! And Jia, I left early this morning to get things ready as arrangements have already been made for a workspace today." I replied.

"I see you're attracting trouble as usual Taichi." Said an adult female voice.

Looked behind Luther and saw Chifuyu, wonder what she's doing here. "Not trying to Miss Orimura, just have a talent for it I guess. You know how it goes." Was my answer to her.

"""Sai!""" barked the three girls that were my age.

The magnitude of the twitching of my right eye got a drastic increased at the shout of the three girls. Turning to face the three girls that have shown that they have a possible genuine interest in me, I wondered if the interest they had isn't that of an owner of a pet! Their expressions didn't bode well for me… and I think they have very much misunderstood what they have witnessed just now. "Um… yes ladies?" I inquired keeping my cool though it was hard.

Houki stepped forward first, "What is all this?! And who are these two and what is your relationship with her?!" All the demand had been shouted, and the last question was made with Houki jabbing a finger at Jia standing directly behind me.

I could almost see Jia tilting her head to the side with her confusion of what was being said to me, even though her head wasn't in my field of vision. "Yes, what is the mean of this?! You owe us an explanation!" added Cecilia in a bellow.

My tolerance that I've been exercising with being treated as being owned by another is waring thin! I'm not a pet or object to be won or owned by anyone or any organization; I'm independent and I'll be recognized as such! Rin unexpectedly, had lost the expression she had just been wearing and it had softened, "Um, I'm just curious what's going on right now, if you wouldn't mind telling Sai."

Well, after the trio had asked for an explanation in the various forms they did, to know what's going on; I was putting forth a lot of effort not to blow my lid! In all honesty, Rin was the only one out of the three that I was feeling the will to answer as she hadn't shouted or bellowed like the other two did. And she implied I had a choice to refuse answering, where the other two didn't give me in the slightest. "Iya. Sai, why are these girls mad at you?" asked Jia.

I sighed at the question from Jia, "Oh, I can't say for sure, but I think they are miffed at me at me for not saying anything about the gang. Probably will be less pleased when they learn more." I replied

Pausing before I gave my answer to the girls, "As for you; Houki, Cecilia and Rin, technically speaking, I own none of you an explanation; yet as I'm nice, I'll give you one. So, please listen to what I'll say; I would rather not have to repeat myself. These two young adults here are friends of mine from back in the US. The guy by Professor Orimura is Luther Smith and this woman behind me with her arms around my neck would be Jia Xuan. She and I are friends, plus she's been teaching me Hung Fut off and on over the last year."

After giving my explanation, I turned to Luther, "I assume that my unit is loaded up and we're good to go then?" I asked.

Luther nodded. Jia got excited at hearing that we were ready to go meet up with the others. "Yea, let's go meet up with the others!" said Jia.

As I said, Jia could have you smiling with ease, "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go! There is work to be done!" I said, my mood improving proved by the smile that was now on my face.

With everything ready, all there was left was for the three of us to pile into the truck and head over to the development facility. That's what I thought, but well… before that could happen, conflict reared its ugly head. "Hold on, where do you think you're going?!" barked Houki.

… These girls! … no, calm down… it isn't worth it… their view of men is the result of females being able to use the IS for the last eight years and men being unable to. It isn't their fault they see males in such a demeaning way. Before I could answer my roommate and tell her it wasn't her business unless I chose for it to be by telling her to settle this for the time being. Cecilia got right in front of my face and made sure I was looking at her, "He is going nowhere, that is where Miss Shinonono; not until he fully explains what is going on!" stated Cecilia firmly.

Again, this trio is treating me less than I am… and it annoys me so much! This is why I would rather not be here at the IS academy among other reasons! The major reason I want to get the rabbit back so badly! For thrusting me into this HELL! … To prove my side of this predicament, may I present to the judge and jury, exhibit A; Cecilia Alcott, stating or telling me as a command to a servant, slave or pet, that I'll go nowhere until I tell her what I'm doing to her satisfaction. I have no intention nor logical reasoning to do so… and even if I did, it was unlikely she would let me leave were I to tell her the truth anyway. I have been tempted many times already since I got here at the academy, wanted to dish out, the dumb blonde jokes that I knew aplenty, but I contained myself as a gentleman should.

Then your honor, we have exhibit B in this case, Houki Shinonono; who's… like her bi**h of an older sister, is getting possessive of me. All I can say is… Thank God she isn't as bad as that perverted rabbit is! The time I spent attempting to escape that eccentric woman the world knows as the genius that invented the IS, wasn't small… still have been devoting time to the task to this day! The D**n bunny just won't leave me alone! Even the doll had been at least somewhat reasonable and could be reasoned with, not the bunny! Back to Houki, just her asking where I was going after I told her that Luther and Jia were friends of mine and that I would be going with them. That shows she doesn't trust me all that much, if she does at all. I haven't given her a reason to doubt me or distrust me that I can think of.

Final point in my defense, have any of these three girls here before me, at any point after meeting me, think about what I want? No! Rin is the only one that doesn't act like she owns me like a pet or something similar and that's the reason I was even considering answering her! Perhaps she took what I said Wednesday evening to heart? I can only hope.

My face changed into a straight and emotionless expression as I laid down the line I had been avoiding laying down, "Okay, listen and listen well girls; let me make one thing perfectly and undeniably clear to you, since none of you seem to understand a particular point about me that I have been trying to get across without just saying it outright to be nice. I'm not… I repeat, I am not owned by any of the girls here or anyone at all! Not any of the three of you, neither any of the girls in class 1, nor any ladies in the first year or any other year for that matter. I'm an independent and free agent, which can choose how I spend my time and whom I spend it with."

I paused to take a breath, before I said the part that irked me with this trio in particular, "Now, answer me this, ladies; have any one of you three, once taken the time to ask me what I wanted, felt or thought about what you girls do or planned to do with me? Or have you thought about what I would think about all the passes you ladies make at me? You girls have absolutely no right to tell me what to do. I'm an equal, a male that can match females in using an IS, not a pet or prize to be won in some sort of contest. I expect to be treated as an equal human being."

I turned towards the front gate, "Not that I owe you three an explanation, but so that you know; I'm leaving the grounds for the sake of my sanity and peace of mind, to get time away from you girls that openly flirt with me and treat me as if I'm less than an equal. I'm just too nice and gentlemanly to just tell you to leave me alone and go away. I need to work on my IS unit and today is the only day I can before the class league matches next week. That's thanks to you three and the rest of the first year girls using any spare time I have during the week for paying attention to all of you. I'll be spending time with friends and doing work on my unit without interruption from others elsewhere; you can't accept that, tough luck."

There was silence, "I see no problem with you leaving, as you have already gotten permission." Was what came from Chifuyu.

Glancing from Chifuyu, to back at the three girls, seeing they were in a state of shock from what I said to them. I'd wanted to avoid having to lay down the facts of the law, but I was left with little choice; might as well leave them for now and move on to other things. I motioned to Luther to lead the way to the truck they had so that we could leave. Jia was still holding onto me as we headed to the front gate. When we reached it, I saw a small sized moving truck that my unit was loaded in I would guess. Luther took the driver seat and Jia sat between myself and Luther and off we went.

-Scene change-

After we drove an hour south, we arrived at the gate of the Asake IS R&D facility. I have heard of this place, but never been here; it was a lot bigger than I thought it was when you're talking area that the place takes up. I mean, this is one of the places that those who work with ISs dream about working at, yet only the best and brightest ever work here. At the gate one of the guards came up and looked the three of us over, asked Luther a question and after answering, nodded to us. The gate opened and the guard waved us through.

We went to one of the larger buildings, Luther seemed to know where he was going, so I didn't say anything. Luther parked the truck outside the building and the three of us got out. Out of the building, came a group of people, which included the other of my three friends and they were accompanied by scientists in the classic white lab coats. One of the said scientist was speaking to Cassidy and by the way that the two were acting around each other, they knew one another.

"Sai, ya made it like a cowboy does to a rodeo." Matt called out.

I laughed a bit, "Yeah, though had some difficulty in that as there were some girls that weren't very interested in letting me leave."

When we approached the group, the man that Cassidy was talking to stared at me for twenty seconds, looking me over from head to toe. "So, this is the young genius friend that goes to Cornell University you keep mentioning, is he?" the man asked.

I looked over to Cassidy with a, 'what have you said about me to others' expression. "Yes, this is Sai Taichi, Arnold." Answered Cassidy before she turned to us and continued, "Everyone, this is Arnold Mets, my older brother; he's one of the managers here at AIS R&D and the one on duty."

…Wow, would have never guessed Cassidy's brother wouldn't just work in Japan, but also in one of the most advanced research complexes. Heck, she never told any of us she had an older brother that I know of. Oh well, not any of our business, the resemblance between Cassidy and her brother Arnold was there, but Cassidy looks more like her mother and her brother takes more after their father. … Yes, I have met their parents, nice people; it happened when Cassidy and I went on a date. That had been interesting as well as amusing experience.

Unloading my unit took about fifteen minutes and after it was taken off the truck; it was taken inside the building we were parked in front of. As my unit was taken in and being brought to the work floor, the gang and the group of scientists headed inside the building; which turned out to be a practical development laboratory and testing facility. So, it had all the best, latest and greatest tools on hand to work with, it was quite something to take in.

The workers that had unloaded my MS got it to the work floor just below the room that we were in, which was like a control center. While I brought out my terminal and hooked it up to the network of the facility, more than half the scientific minded people here were looking at my MS as Corinthos unfolded into standby mode for me to mount. By the gasps and mutterings, I do believe that my custom built IS unit was impressing the scientist here. As I hooked into the network here, I was amazed at the speed this network had! The academy couldn't compare… of course this place needs a network like this for R&D.

But still, this is something I haven't gotten to work with since being around the bunny and the doll… Of course, we built and customized a ridiculous system, had to cost a ludicrous amount of money. Yet, those two women didn't care about cost as they could get as much money as they wanted… The morals that those two had, or lack thereof is more the truth; made such legally questionable or just outright illegal acts, easier for them to do. I can't deny that the hasenpfeffer could hack pretty much any system in the world including financial institution. The porcelain life like doll can manipulate information of any kind, no matter how classified it is or if it's not supposed to exist; she could make others believe what she fashioned. I learned to just not ask with those two… It's better that way, less incriminating for me.

Once everything was set up all turned to me; now, I don't get stage fright, however, to be in front of this many brilliant minded people and all of them looking to me for instruction… it's a bit unnerving. Still, I took a deep breath and in a fashion gave a short presentation of my unit's design and basic specs that thus far I have only shown to the gang… with holographic 3D rendering to show what I was talking about. The presentation lasted for almost fifteen minutes, and by the time I was done, there were a number of the scientists in the room that had their jaws open in awe and shock at what I had shown and told them. It was obvious that I had impressed the majority of the people here and then some. In fact, Cassidy's brother Arnold, walked up to me and once again looked me over. "I see my sister wasn't kidding when she said you're quite the genius. May I ask how you know so much about the IS?"

Oh crap! That's a question I'm very much not fond of hearing and even less answering! I can't just say, I'm one of the three inventors and creators of the concept and idea that became the Infinite Stratos. There would be repercussions that I didn't want from telling the truth on this inquire. I smiled halfheartedly, "Oh um… I've always had a fascination of ISs and have just learned things I know as I have tested and tried stuff throughout the years." I answered.

Arnold nodded at my reply and didn't inquired further. I was grateful for that as it's a subject that wouldn't be a good idea to get into for me as it would restrict me in many ways! I took the next ten minutes to go through the plan and the list of tasks that needed to be done and those things I would like to have done. First the stabilizers needed to either be fixed or replaced, then there were just stuff here and there that could be better than they are now. And with the requirements stated and written down; we got to work. With the scientists here were helping us in our endeavor, well as the phrase goes, 'many hands make light work' and there was a good amount of tasks to get done.

Luther's expertise were being put into fixing the stabilizer issue; with his architectural engineering knowledge, I was hoping he could fix them. If that wasn't possible, then replacing them would be a time consuming task, but Luther was the one that had helped Matt and me in their construction and installation originally. He along with other scientists were doing tests on the stabilizers to understand the extent of the damage as well as seeing if they could be fixed at all. As the stabilizers are customized like most of the rest of my MS, if they needed to be replaced, then they would need to be built. It's possible that they might have stabilizer units here that can be modified and altered to work the same as mine do themselves.

So, with the planned modifications that were in store for the machine, there would need to be some changes to the restraint system. I needed more flexibility and yet still would prefer to not fall out in the middle of a fight… that would hurt to hit the ground with the speeds that I fly at and the distances that I go upward in. And when I had gone supersonic, I felt places pulled that I would rather not have pulled if I can help it. So hence, the reason the need adjustment in the restraint system. I need the ability to move more freely, yet I still needed the restraints to hold me in well enough to do the job they were designed to do. May need to add more to the system down around the legs and around the arms, specifically when I go supersonic speeds or faster.

Now, with the last match with Cecilia in mind, Many things had come to light. First, even though I had only had to use my beam rifles for a few shots, they needed adjusting, for their firing angle and targeting had been off a bit. Then the supersonic flight and the following impact had made some things very clear. The DCC interface, shouldn't be used until it get serious work done on it, that was number one. Also wing position and just some other stuff in general. However, I'd like to have a few more options at my disposal in future skirmishes so that I wouldn't have to rely on systems that aren't fully tested and ready.

For the weapons And offensive options, I turn to Olivia who knows far more than me in ballistics and weapon design. Hell, we built the beam rifles together from scratch, she corrected the problems in the design that I didn't have any idea about when I had been drawing the blueprints. So, Olivia looked over the rifles and did some fine tuning on them. Plus, she enabled a feature that wasn't available during my first match, combining both rifles; to extend effective range and increase power output. If theory holds true, then the range is doubled, which would be neat and handy, but the output would be increased to an unsafe degree to be used. And when I say an unsafe degree, I mean enough to pierce the arena shield barrier and still have more than enough for me to keep going with the match I would be in. If my combined rifle can do that in theory to the shield barricade in the arena, I would rather not think about just how much more damage could do to an IS shield. The energy shield itself wasn't design to take power like that, I would know as I came up with the concept and designed them. Hell back at that time, I doubt Tabane, Alice or I, thought a weapon could put out that kind of energy output! Nevertheless, better in my opinion, to have the option to use if something unexpected comes up… you never know what could happen.

The other part that Olivia was going to work on here was a weapon that I unequipped pre-match with Cecilia. Those weapons, as there are two of them, are railguns. These aren't to be mistaken for an impact/shock cannon as many observers will say they are the same. If anything those cannons are attempts to design and build working railguns and none have succeed on building real railguns as none fit the qualities that railguns are held to. Where impact cannons compress the air in the nearby area and then send it out a confined barrel at high speed at their opponent; the railgun uses electromagnetic energy in the form of to adjacent rails that use magnetism to manipulate kinetic force to launch ammunition at speeds that conventional projectile shooting weapons can't achieve. Even missiles launching systems have an extremely hard time matching the launching speed of a true railgun or rail cannon, most can't come close.

Jia, the Chinese woman that's normally energetic and cheerfully, was unusually serious. She was setting to working on the prototype shield that my unit has we have been designed, which I deactivated for the class match. I may have come up with the theory for the shield system, but it was Jia that thought up the method of how it my theory could be done with practical application. Right now, the system even if it's sound, isn't completely reliable and so needs tuning and tweaking to get the shield to function as I conceived it would. The goal, to have multiple shields that worked together synchronized and took less energy to do so than the standard energy shield that the IS has. The shield was still a work in progress and wasn't ready for real application just yet. But I look forward to the day that it is ready for deployment!

Of course, with all the adjustments and alterations that were being done; there were modifications that would be needed to the control system of the unit itself. The one I trust with doing alterations with programming of my machine and doing anything that could affect Corinthos, is Cassidy. Getting machines to do exactly what you might want them to, Cassidy is simply incredible! Yes, she's a techie and geek with system programing; I see absolutely nothing wrong with that. It just proves that geeks can be very attractive, so brains and good looks can go together.

However, back to the work Cassidy was doing; the amount of programing, and the complexity of the coding that it took for this machine, this isn't a small thing my female friend is doing! I mean, Cassidy and I had pretty much written our own programing language for this, mostly so that Corinthos could control the complete system more efficiently. That language is based on the one that the bunny, the doll and I had come up with for the IS originally. What brilliantly minded people have a difficult time understanding other than the sheer complexity of the language the system uses, would be Corinthos. As the system controller, Corinthos could processes information much like the human mind does, just at incredibly faster speeds than humans are capable of. I started to discover about a year ago that Corinthos is developing the ability to learn like humans can. The first signs and makings of… dare I say, an Artificial Intelligence… but I'll be keeping that view to myself for the time being. It hasn't shown signs of being self-aware or entirely able to think and make decisions on its own.

Anyways, the point of the things that Cassidy was doing, was to help Corinthos handle the adjustments and still run things smoothly. One part of the system I know will need tuning and alteration, is the energy distribution throughout all the systems. And that kind of task takes time and patience to do, the last time Cassidy and I did adjustments, it had taken a few days to get it all the components of the control system working correctly and fluently between one another!

In the end, the stabilizers were pronounced unfixable and needed to be replaced. That meant that I had to design and build new ones; though having others who know what they're doing is helpful. The nice surprise, is that there were parts for stabilizers here that could be used to construct new ones for my unit. Heck, the scientist here offered me experimental units they had built here, as modifying advanced experimental models is quicker than building from scratch, I didn't say no. I was more surprised that the scientists let me have them as they were being developed for late third generation ISs and even for fourth generation machines whenever their development began. Arnold said that it was hoped that seeing what I did would help in their development and application. Normally, I would not like that other people, that I didn't completely trust in, see my work really at all. However, the stabilizer design which I employ isn't that far ahead of what was being researched, so there isn't much of a problem.

After four hours of solid work, with staggered lunch breaks for all of us working; my unit was back in working order, and more over, to a creditable standard and that's what counted more than the machine just working. I mounted my MS and activated it to make sure there wasn't something we missed. The startup that Corinthos did… silently, impressed a number of the scientists; from the speed of a full system start with thorough full system checks, which normally each take a few minutes each system individually. Corinthos was doing all the systems in a little less than ninety seconds. Let me tell you, having a fully equipped lab with the best computer terminals to give out readings from my unit… is awesome!

Nonetheless, even with downright accurate information… there is something missing in this to make sure things are working right. Something that a machine just couldn't give. I turned to Cassidy who was using equipment to gather information for the scientists to judge the status of the systems of my machine. "Hey Cassidy, you up to doing me a favor?" I asked.

My friend stopped what she was doing and looked at me, "And what is this favor you had in mind?"

I smiled, "Face me in a match with an IS."

Cassidy stared at me and asked, "For what purpose?"

"A full operations test, and you are the best pilot that I can think of." I answered.

"That can be arranged." Both Cassidy and I turned and saw Arnold approaching us.

"You have an IS here that Cassidy can use then?" the question came from me in an excited tone of voice, before I could stop myself.

Arnold nodded. And so, with the agreement made, Cassidy went off to get fitted and the IS adjusted to work the best for her, while everyone else was doing the final checks to make sure my MS was working the best it could. The funny thing is, I could hear the scientists here making bets about who would win and how long the match would last. Apparently, Arnold had talked about his younger sister and her escapades as a member of the US team until two years ago. I'll admit it, I know that Cassidy is good! She was a world champion after all, so I expect her to be; and that just makes it all the more exciting for me. The match against Cecilia had been disappointing, wasn't a challenge really. Yes, her pride made her act the way that made the match almost boring. Yet, in the match that was going to occur, would be one most challenging fights I have ever been in! I can't see a better way to test Corinthos, the MS or myself to the fullest than this upcoming match!

I was shortly escorted to the IS testing arena and put on the catapult. Shooting out to the arena and looking around and locking onto my opponent. Cassidy was fitted with an IS design that I have never seen, but as this is an R&D lab, you should expect a unit that's in development. And for the scientist get the service of a world champion even if former, for testing an IS… It's understandable that they would be excited.

The IS itself, had white as its base color. The front of the legs looked like it had a large two right triangles put together on their long sides. The back of that section was fitted to the leg of the pilot's lower leg and the whole thing made up the upper leg down to below the mid-shin. At the top of it were diamond shaped plates on both sides of the leg, where I think were thrusters, but can't say for sure. The foot of the IS had the frame of the normal boot a person would wear, just bigger; but it had a spike the on the front of the foot and a long blade fin coming out of the back of the foot on both sides of the heel.

The left arm was unremarkable white armored like forearm with dark blue clawed hands. The right arm on the other hand, was a different story. There was an oval shield shaped piece of metal that sat over the pilot's arm, and there was a blue crystal over the palm. Possibly meaning that like my unit, the IS can put out an energy field to block incoming shots with using less power than taking the shot to the energy shield directly. Under that, the clawed hand was red instead of blue as its left counterpart.

The shoulder apparatuses worried me a bit, they had the same shape as one of my single wing bits set in a circular frame. If I were to give a guess with spotting a small opening at the pointed end of the wing like objects, they were actually beam or projectile cannons… I'm hoping projectile as they tend to be easier to dodge than beams. Then there was the booster section I saw some of behind Cassidy. It was decently sized and it was aerodynamically streamlined, in fact, this whole unit appeared aerodynamic. And then who knows what weapons this IS has that aren't built into the IS frame.

For the pilot Cassidy, a white restraint piece clung onto my friend's upper body encased her breasts and upper chest. The shoulders were covered with square shaped pads. There was also metal encasing her hips, but left space exposed between that and where Cassidy's legs slot into the leg controls. Cassidy herself, was wearing what looked like a sport's bra with short sleeves attached to it, very similar to my top piece of clothing I'm wearing right now. … and from what I could see, her bottom clothing was almost the same to mine. The real difference, Cassidy's are blue and mine are black.

I smiled at my friend after taking in observations of the unit Cassidy was in, "I've got to say, nice IS you've been fitted with Cassidy." I said.

Cassidy giggled a little, "You sound excited about this match." Replied Cassidy.

I let out a bark of laughter, "You would be right, the last match I participated in, I was almost bored silly; the girl was so arrogant that she didn't take me seriously. It was a joke really, ended out with her going out for my blood. I had to stop her by hitting her with a supersonic impact. So, I'm expecting you'll give me a much better match than that."

"I know that you'll be doing the best you can and with Corinthos helping you, well I'll be taking you seriously, that's for sure." Said Cassidy.

" **Get ready!** " sounded the voice of Arnold Mets, signaling the match was about to begin.

Both Cassidy and I settled into our fighting stances. The countdown started to the match's start, " **3… 2… 1… Begin!"**

The second the match began, I shot to the left, yet out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Cassidy was holding a rifle in her right hand. The rifle was three feet in length and was like a metal bar, much like a two by four. The rifle was a bit taller on the back end, there was also a targeting scope just behind the middle of the gun. The gun itself was grey in color and was clearly a beam based ammunition gun.

The rifle fired three shots, which I performed some amazing acrobatics in order to avoid the incoming threats… I had no idea I could do these movements! I mean, the first shot came and martial arts instincts and intuition came with the first shot of adrenaline. Bending to the right almost ninety degrees and shifting both my left wing sets so that the energy bolt pass by me and my unit harmlessly. The second bolt approached a distance behind the first, and I shifted my body to be horizontal and six inches lower With my face point up towards the sky. I watched as the second energy bolt fly over me, so close that I felt the heat radiating from it as it passed inches in front of my face. It was like I was doing the limbo or something like that. Shot number three was a little more behind the first two, but not by much; I flipped backward to still be horizontal, yet now my back was to the sky and my front was toward the ground below. The bolt shot over me and I kept going in my circular motion until I was facing forward and upright.

My gaze was back on Cassidy and I saw that she had fired another bolt from her rifle, in the time I had dodged the first three shots she had sent my way. However, the energy shot had already closed half the distance between Cassidy and myself, raising my right arm and positioning it in front of my chest. The red gem shaped section over the top of my palm and wrist glowed and a faint blue light colored tower shield shaped formed in front of me. The incoming bolt hit the blue light shield and was stopped in its path. Once the shot was dealt with, the light shield vanished and the emitter over my wrist and palm ceased glowing.

Granted, I was fully aware that this match would be much more challenging than the joke of a event with Cecilia and myself a few weeks ago. No, this would be one of the greatest and hardest fights I've ever been in… and I'm loving every moment of this! I rushed backwards to make some distance from Cassidy, to hopefully create more margin for error with the use of her rifle. That gun had fairly high output, not as much as Cecilia's British sniper rifle had, but more than average. I hadn't made a lot of distance when I observed that on the diamond pieces on the outside of the legs on Cassidy's IS open and out of the faintly seen tubes on the sections that had popped out, came missiles. Hidden weapons on this IS unit… now that's what I'm talking about! This is how a match should be, guessing what your opponent will do until the end. This is going to be fun! I took out my beam rifles, with active targeting going to work, locking onto the incoming missiles in the targeting field so that I know where they are always as they get closer was very much appreciated. My rifles up, I started shooting the projectiles, rendering them inert in relation to me.

Blasting the last of the missiles that had been shot at me, I was about to turn my attention fully back to my opponent, when I felt a hard impact. The impact shook me and Corinthos registered a direct impact had been taken by the energy shield. I spun around to see a little smoke coming from Cassidy's rifle, which was pointed at me. … Firing missiles at me to serve as a distraction for her to line up a shot with her rifle… and successfully as well; I should expect no less from one who's a league above me. Cassidy then sped forward towards me, rapidly eliminating the distance between us; I tried to evade out of the way, but my opponent adjusted her path and made contact with me. And when I say "made contact" with me, I'm talking about Cassidy hitting me like a linebacker would a quarterback in the sport of football! Needless to say, I was sent rocketing to the ground, yet just before kissing that said ground, I managed to stabilize my unit and pull out of the nose dive I had been put in.

Now, I was racing along the ground as if I was on ice skates and I was speed skating! I pulled a one-eighty grabbing my beam rifles and bringing them to point at Cassidy and started squeezing the triggers each time she came into my targeting sites. As I was having my shoot out with my friend, the voice of Corinthos spoke, "Final format settings… in progress… standby."

An energy bolt shot pass me… apparently my current evasion strategy needs to change as Cassidy is getting closer to hitting me that she was before. I'll really need to keep on my toes in this match… finally, someone that will make things challenging! I began to do weaving motions and then switching to more a zig zagging pattern and alternating between the two methods. The moving was working to an extent as I was able to dodge the majority of the incoming bolts… there were a few that did hit me. For those that did find their mark of me, I pulled off staggering recoveries and kept on my feet and not face planting at all.

Okay, enough of being a fox that's being shot at the hunter's leisure; I launched myself into the air with a decent amount of thrust. As I made my ascent upward, I twisted my body around a hundred eighty degrees and saw with satisfaction that Cassidy was right in front of where my raised rifle barrels were aiming. Without further hesitation, I squeezed both triggers and made my first undeniable hit on my opponent in the match! Cassidy moved backward a little, clearly surprised at pulling the stunt I had; she wasn't mad, just surprised.

While Cassidy was recovering, I checked my unit's vital readings. Things were working fine, though as Corinthos was doing the final adjustments as we speak, performance wasn't at the top. My energy shield, unlike in the match with Alcott, there was a difference as the match with Cecilia my shield energy level hadn't really changed other than power that was routed to the thrusters. In this instance, that wasn't the case; my current shield level sat at three hundred ninety. I had taken some shots so I expected for my energy to have gone down an amount; after all, Cassidy is at the level of a world champion, which is a league above what I can do.

"Format settings complete." Said Corinthos.

Blasted off upward at a slightly better speed than I had pulled off previously in this match. Sensors informed me that Cassidy was following after me just after I had shot off. A plan popped into my mind… it was kind of risky and if Cassidy suspected it, then it would likely fail, but worth a try. I climbed higher and higher, until I reached fifteen hundred feet or so above the arena; at that point I shut off all my thrusters, those that got me here and those that would keep me flying in the air. Rising another ten feet from my momentum I got from climbing, before gravity began to drag me downward, I fell still facing upward towards the sky above me. Now that I was experiencing free-fall; I must admit, the feeling felt like the first time I flew, liberating beyond what words can ever express!

Caught sight for a brief moment of Cassidy as I zoomed passed her in my fall. Within seconds, I watched as Cassidy dove after me, focused on me, bringing her rifle out again and beginning to take aim. Well… now or never then! From the back of my hips, swung forward two metal barrels folded against what looked like elongated rifle butts. Once both pieces came to sit on either side of my hips, the barrel and butt unfolded and whipped upward in opposite directions. Now, with two four-foot guns sitting on my hips, Cassidy's eyes went wide as she stared at the two guns I brought out. I smiled called, "Special delivery!"

The booming sound of a massive electrical discharge, catching a flash and then a fraction of a second later, hearing the explosion of the projectiles that I had shot hitting Cassidy. The gun barrels were putting out a little bit of heated smoke, giving the visible evidence that both guns had fired. Watching as Cassidy was sent flying to the other side of the arena due to the shockwave from the explosion. She smacked into the ground once and bounce back up into the air. I ignited my wing thrusters and Flying over to the opposite side of the arena and landed lightly on the ground. Cassidy came down and hit the ground a second time before she recovered and had feet solidly on the ground, skidding to a stop. There were no weapons were pointed at me as Cassidy rose to her full height; likewise, I gave the same curtsey and pointed none at her.

"Must say, wasn't expecting those guns to be usable already; you and Olivia had outdone yourselves." Commented Cassidy.

I chuckled, "Thanks, Olivia and I are mighty proud of these railguns, even if they're experimental still."

"I can see why, I've been hit by a few different variations of impact and shock cannons, but those two guns of yours are quite something else. Where some say that impact cannons are the same as railguns, yet with what you and Olivia have made, I would disagree now. Impact and shock cannons may have an invisible barrels true, but with the barrel exit velocity your guns have, makes up for the lack of invisible barrel. There's no time to counter or even evade the incoming projectiles… there just too fast. With impact and shock cannons, there is a one to three second window to avoid the shot, but with your railgun, there's less than a second before they hit. Very Impressive." Said Cassidy.

Smiling in my silent thanks, I shifted into a fighting stance, "Nice as this conversation is; we're in the middle of a match. Shall we continue where we left off then?" I asked.

Cassidy's answer, was to get a serious look on her face and nodding. Seconds later, both. Cassidy and I raced toward one another, resuming the match. From Cassidy, came a flash and after that flash, my friend and opponent in this fight was now holding two swords. Her swords were six feet in total length from the end of the hilts to the sharp, pointed tip of the sword itself and the blade itself was six inches wide. The hilts took up a foot and a half of the six-foot length, the end three inches of the hilt was white, then the rest split into two parts; the center cylindrical handle, and the curved guard. The center handle was black and simple where the guard appeared more like industrial cabling, yes that's the picture that came to mind.

The transition between the hilt and the blade was a tad different than what people think of with a blade or sword. It was made up of three pieces, the first was the blue connection piece that the center handle and the guard slotted into and it appeared as what a European knight sword section of hilt above the hand grip itself, yet it had only the left wing protrusion and not the other. The piece above that, was a clamp or reinforcement for the blade, it went along four on the blade and had two places that it attached, those being just above center at the base of the blade and four inches ahead of that. The third and final part that made up the transition between hilt and blade, was what looked like an emitter like the ones that were on my saber bases. It was attached on right below the reinforcer for the blade on top.

The blade which was four and a half feet long, was different in the respect of the only sharp part of it, was the last six inches where the blade curves upward to the point. The top side is flat and blunt; it will hurt like heck like it would if you were hit hard with a steel pipe, but it won't cut through much if anything. The other side was much the same except, the was a three and three quarters section of the blade that was flat like its opposite side but was in a good three inches in from where the edge of the blade should be, leaving an open area in the blade. Suspiciously, it just happens to be where the emitter forward of the hilt was set and there was another emitter towards the top of the blade. Coincidence? I think not!

The distance separating us closed evermore rapidly; I grabbed my beam saber hilts from the back of my waist and gripped them tightly, activating the sabers as I flew forward. From the saber bases came solid tubes of light colored a light green burst forth, the blades made up of multiple lasers manipulated to appear and work together as one and form a cutting laser that can cut metal like a knife through butter.

The force with which Cassidy and I met was awesome, so great that clouds of dirt and dust were billowing up around us. The both of us were pressing forward hard against one another, trying to get the other to be pushed back. Cassidy's swords parallel to each other as she was pushing them down towards me in the motion of striking both my shoulders. My sabers were set in a X formation to block the incoming swords; oh… remember that open space in Cassidy's swords… yeah I now know why it's like that. The reason is, that space is used for a beam that served the same purpose as my beam sabers do, cutting.

After thirty seconds of trying to make each other back down and off, we both shot back from the clash. Spotting that the shoulder apparatus that Cassidy had swung up and… as I suspected, proved they were cannons… and energy beams no less. I managed to get my left arm up and blocked the first beam with my second light shield, even if it forced me backwards a bit. The second beam… was a different story; that one nailed my energy shield directly, sucking down energy as it blocked damage to me. Glancing at my shield energy display, I noted that I was now down to two hundred ninety out of the eight hundred I started with.

I brought out my beam rifles again and fired shots at Cassidy, attempting to hit her or at the very least to back off and give me space to work with. No such luck for me, Cassidy dodged… and made it look easy; this isn't going well for me. Yet I won't give up! It ain't over until the fat lady sings! And she is still warming up!

Cassidy swooped in low and kicked up a dirt cloud and messed up my vision and I lost sight of her. I searched around quickly, knowing the longer it took to find Cassidy the more time she had to set up to nail me to the wall hard. Next thing I know I was hit by two beams and force forward twenty feet. An Alert sounded from Corinthos, informing me that my shield energy had fallen worryingly low. Seeing the number one hundred thirty flash once, only served to reinforce the point to me that I was losing. Yet, I haven't spotted Cassidy and I knew I was in trouble!

I took a heavy impact from the right side, caught a glimpse of Cassidy before I went sailing into the ground and brought to an abrupt halt. A second alert sounded, say my shield energy had fallen into the red; the number one hundred was seen out of the corner of my vision. I was struggling to get up, but was forced back down to the ground by Cassidy striking me with one of her combat blades. The point of the blade was pressing against my shield and making the energy level drop at an alarming rate! … Don't tell me that the point of the blade is designed to work like a shield pierce… I'm screwed!

Cassidy thrust the point of her blade down on my shield and I convulsed in response; my energy level fell to seventy. Trying desperately to move and rise to fight back, but to no avail; down came the second thrusting strike. Corinthos gave another alert, that shield energy fell to critical levels, which I already knew, as it was now at forty and still dropping.

Desperate times call for desperate and… probably suicidal measures; I attempted to bring out and activate both railguns. However, they weren't able to be deployed as Cassidy was standing such that prevented that. Crap, the fat lady is about to sing!

Cassidy raised her sword once more, holding it there as if for effect; I stared helpless to do anything about. She brought it down with a bit more force than the first two strikes hitting my shield

 _LA LAAAAAAAAAAA!_

… And the fat lady is singing! The impact from the stab of the blade point had a kind finality, I could only watch as my shield energy fell and hit zero. … I lost, granted, I knew that would be the likely outcome, but still… not like this exactly.

-Scene Change-

We headed back to the house I had rented after the match; by the time the six of us arrived, I had gotten over the depressed mood from losing like I did against Cassidy. I had been well aware that I would most likely lose as Cassidy is at the level of a world champion and I'm not; still, like any other person, I don't like to lose. However, I was spending time with friends, and not being swamped by girls my own age and that's an awesome thing. It was dinner time when we got to the house, we all pitched in to making the meal. I mean, it's hard to go wrong with making spaghetti with six people doing the work, right?

Well, after dinner was polished off, I said my farewells and headed back to the IS academy. Got back before the entrance was closed and locked… Not like the gate being locked would stop me from getting in, I could just activate my MS and fly over the outer wall. The other students couldn't do that without getting caught… But I can! I can have Corinthos hack the detection system of the academy and make my unit be undetectable and so invisible to sensors should I chose to do so. Either that, or I could hack into the IS academy system myself and take control and open the gate, whichever fits my fancy really.

When I had gotten through the gate with my chosen method, which I'll keep to myself, I headed to the dorm building for the first years. I kept quiet; I didn't want extra attention. Most, if not all my classmates and the other girls in my year should be in their rooms by this time, it was almost ten at night after all. Nonetheless, best not to tempt fate and have the girls know I'm out of bed by making my presence known. Managing to reach the correct floor and room, I slipped inside; I was about to pat myself on the back for a job well done, when the lights came on.

"I see you have returned." Said the voice of my roommate.

The tone or rather the lack thereof from Houki, worried me a bit, but guess just should get this over with. I turned around and faced her, Houki was wearing her usual night wear, which consisted of a light kimono style that went to just beyond her knees and was lilac in color. The expression on her face was downcast and she just looked depressed. I smiled halfheartedly, "Um… Yes, I'm back Houki."

There was an awkward silence between us, then Houki bowed to me, "I'm sorry!"

My right eyebrow rose at hearing what Houki said, "Sorry about what, Houki?" I asked in a neutral tone.

This was a good development in my view, a wonderful difference between Houki and her sister, the d**n metal eared bunny devil. Houki apparently was willing to apologize, the stupid hasenpfeffer had never done that for anyone and she had far more to do so for! However, if she was going to say sorry, then she should be saying what she is exactly sorry for, more to show she understands what she needs to change as anything else.

"The things I said earlier." was the answer I got.

That's a good place to begin, though not enough; I folded my arms across my chest. "The things you said huh? Do you mean demanding where I was last night, when…?" I grabbed the note that I had written before going to Tokyo, which was still precisely where I set it on the center of the desk so Houki could find it, "I wrote and left a note on the desk, which you didn't find last night or this morning. I thought the desk was the easiest place for you to find it, but alas, I was wrong. Or maybe, you demanding to know who my friends were, in a bellow no less. No wait, perhaps you're apologizing for treating me like some kind of object or animal that's kept as a pet… something less than an equal? Please Houki, do be specific on what you're saying sorry for; it does help in an apology. It shows you see the mistake that's been made, instead of just using hollow words as an apology." I remarked.

The question clearly hurt Houki, though what I had asked and stated was valid to me. The girls here had been treating me as less than a person and individual; and I don't react well to that at all! I've tolerated such actions up till now and I would say that's to my credit, but even I have my limits as to how much I can take! Houki didn't answer me right away; I kept my gaze steady, "As I believe I said, I'm not owned by anyone."

Houki's head fell in shame, "Perhaps you've taken the time to think about the other thing I said, about considering how I feel and what I want?" I asked.

Houki's mood dropped lower. Looking at my depressed female roommate for a long minute. I sighed, walked over to her and circled my arms around her hugged her, ignoring the sickness I feel because of her sister and the doll when I'm hugged or hug with most people. This was simply to help her cheer up, I'm a nice guy and don't like to see a girl in a depressed mood, "Look Houki, I don't hate you or anything like that." Houki's head shot up and she stared at me; I continued, "All I'm saying, is to look at me as an individual and a human being like you would any other girl here at the academy, I don't think that's too much to ask from you ladies."

I released Houki, and made my way to the bathroom, changed and flopped onto my bed, all within ten minutes. What tomorrow will bring, I haven't the faintest idea. I'll just take it as it comes and see what happens for now.

 **Chapter end!**

 *** JST means Japan Standard Time**

Here is the conversation between Olivia and Sai at the airport in English

(the line to Jia from Olivia)

Olivia: "What! Jai let him go! You are going to crush and hurt him, so I say let him go!"

(Rest of the conversation)

Sai: "Hello Olivia, it's nice to see you... how are you?"

Olivia: "Hi Sai, I'm well. How you have done when you were here in Japan?"

Sai: "I've had better days, but I'll learn to deal with the way things have worked for me. However, I must say that... to be surrounded by many girls that I'm at the Academy... do not make it easy to cope."

Olivia: "Very good, very good my friend!"

 **A/n**

 **And that's where I'll leave off with this chapter. Sai has done some laying down of the line he expects from the girls at the academy. His friends from Cornell are in Japan for the time being and will be able to support him somewhat. Please take the time to write a review and tell me what you think of the story thus far, feel free to criticize me about things you find wrong, ask questions of me, whatever.**

 **Heikki**

Glad you like this story and hoped you liked this chapter.


	6. Class League Match

**A/n**

 **Okay, a few things before getting into the chapter. First, I had have seen that I have made a spelling error on one of the character names from Infinite Stratos, that being Honne Nohotoke, as I have spelled her first name as 'Honne' rather than I've spelt it, 'Hoone' I have corrected in this chapter and will use the proper spelling from here on. Second, thank you readers for the support of reading this story, it just started as a somewhat an amusing idea; didn't think it would become this, but that's how it goes. Again I don't own nothing but my characters and musing. On with the show!**

Chapter 6

Class League Match

Sunday was… well, a non-quiet affair for me. You see, I had thought that me being gone for most of Saturday from the academy had not been noticed… silly me, my missing presence was known by the girls of my class. I found this out Sunday morning at breakfast, what the consequences of this entailed. Cecilia, Houki and Rin had a bad reaction to me as I was leaving true, and thankfully that wasn't the case for me at breakfast on Sunday. However, being accosted by thirty or so girls who are bombarding you with questions about where you were the day before and being told what they had planned to do with you that day, isn't fun!

I had woken up, thinking that I would have an easy going Sunday, nothing to worry about, just time to kick back and relax… no such luck for me. Once I had calmed the girls, or rather the other members of my class down, I told them I had had a previous engagement that required most of Saturday. Most accepted that, which is better than the trio fighting over me. That notwithstanding, I was literally dragged off by the girls, two on each arm and the rest surrounding me and the rest of my 'relaxing Sunday' was spent with my class playing and me being forced to participate! But I'm a good sport and didn't complain about not wanting to 'play' with my classmates, suffering in silence like a gentleman would.

And so came Monday, the beginning signs of an added workload coming my way appeared and it was in the first morning class no less! I was sitting at my desk, minding my own business… Even was awake and not tempted to nod off during the lesson. Was on my best behavior; none could deny that, not even Chifuyu. So, why is it, that I get trouble put to me for no apparent reason?! It started with Chifuyu saying that she had something to talk about to us students before dismissing class.

"Listen up! The class league matches start this week and so the morning's practical training will be cancelled as the matches will be taking place at that time. For each representative to have a chance to fight against the other three representatives, there matches will be for the next three days. This is so we can get the best view of skills of the pilots. Since Taichi is the class representative, you will be judge by his performance…" Chifuyu then focused on me, "Taichi, your match will be the first one tomorrow morning, prepare yourself."

Great, three fights over the next three days… at least it's something a little different to do, I'll take that. Still… how nice for my classmates to be rated by my performance, for I take matches seriously every time. If you go by how some of them do in training, and some don't do much work at that time; then a few of them would be seriously reprimanded or possibly suspended. I'm not saying that all my female peers aren't working hard at training to use the IS, I've seen the ones who really try. I'm just good and have experience, both recently acquired and my time as one of the two original test pilots. And then, my MS is kind of unfair, even if no one says it; my unit can be considered a match to a fourth generation when it's fully operational. The rest of the world is working on producing working third generation ISs, so how can my machine be compared to a generation ahead of current R&D one might ask? Because I don't doubt that Tabane and Alice, wherever they are; would be testing their version of a fourth generation IS unit they're developing or the equivalent to such, just as I am. The three of us see each other as competition… unofficially at least.

Back to my predicament, if things had ended with Chifuyu's explanation, then things would be fine… Of course that's not how events went down. The second after Chifuyu dismissed class, I was accosted by my classmates; either saying variations of wishing me luck or saying that I had their support… some even showed their 'support'. I tensed up for those ones; for example, Honne Nohotoke hugged me hard… her friends had been shocked, where she didn't see a problem. That particular classmate reminds me more and more of Jia, she acts much an airhead, like Jia can be at times. Thankfully none of them kissed me, though one or two of them did make an attempt, which the other girls pull them back preventing my classmates that were trying to lock lips with me. … I'm going to have to be more careful moving forward, some of these girls are getting bolder by the day!

When lunch came, things only escalated for me and my position, which just goes to justify my reasons for not spending much time with my age group. So normally, I would just pick a booth on the half of the cafeteria that was closer to the exit and once I got a booth I would eat, the reason I go for a booth, is that I have to deal with the stares from the first year girls less. Anyway, once sitting at a booth, a number of girls will come and wish to sit with me. It's become a normal thing for them to do now, I have the trio that harry me more than the other do for the moment as usual sitties for lunch… and dinner. However, with the booths in the cafeteria, they sitting a maximum of eight if you really squeeze in unlike the tables with chairs. So, with that in mind, the first three spots are almost always taken up by Houki, Cecilia and Rin and that left four seats left. And if you wonder why girls haven't tried to say they could sit in my lap… some have, there have been some that have asked and others that have tried to just sit in my lap without asking. By the end of the first week here at the academy, I had to put my foot down and simply say that there were seven seats available at the booth and it was first come, first served and stand by that. Sitting on my lap isn't allowed at meals and I'll not budge on that point for anyone! I have been enforcing that unofficial rule strictly at the start of week two!

It was in my afternoon lectures that I found solace; be in a classroom, though it's virtually transmitted into the physical lecture hall at Cornell, but I was around mature people that weren't driving me up the walls. Plus, for my quantum physics lecture, Matt and Luther were there and the familiar company was wonderful! With the Calculus II lecture, I was with Cassidy, Olivia and Luther; and once the lectures of the day were over, the gang met back up and I invited them to watch the first fight of the Class League matches that I would be in. To which my friends agreed and Jia especially was excited about watching the skirmish… but then, she's usually excited about things that involve one of us or more.

Tuesday morning arrived, to me, it was a normal morning; for the other ladies in the first year, there was an atmosphere of excitement and building tension. … Actually, I say normal, but it wasn't exactly like the days before, allow me to elaborate. I had two of the trio, Rin wasn't sitting at the booth for breakfast, yet as she's a class representative for class two of first year; she's probably getting ready for her match today. Houki, Cecilia and my other classmates headed off to the first morning class after breakfast, I was excused and I won't complain. No offense against Miss Yamada; however, the uninteresting way she delivers the information and the material itself… is SO boring to me. I know more about the IS than my sub-homeroom teacher and more about the inner workings than my homeroom teacher, Chifuyu; I helped design and develop the dang thing after all. Can anyone blame me for being bored and being tempted to snooze in class?!

I used the free time to meet my friends at the front gate, where other people who were coming to see the league skirmishes. Figured these fights would also serve as an exhibition for developers and high level company representatives to watch and see future potential test pilots. Don't doubt that quite a few of them will be very interested in me and wish to recruit me. I'll refuse them as I have no intention of working for anyone anytime soon. My reasons being the same for not talking about my past; my personal freedoms and what I've worked for would be taken from me and not given back! So, that servers as motivation not to say anything or work for anyone, even if a background check wouldn't find anything… I've made sure of that. The gang separated at the entrance to the arena, they went to the stands and I made my way to the IS bay to suit up.

I quickly got into my unit and had finished minutes before the operator arrived. Now that I was mounted, I waited for the signal to board the catapult to launch out into the arena, while wondering who my opponent would be for the first match… wasn't told as part of the rules or something like that. There were in the first year here at the IS academy, four classes in total; so logically four class representatives that will be duking it out in the arena. Yet, the mentality here is that everyone gets a chance, so I'll have to, by the end fight all of the other three class reps. … Not that I don't enjoy a good skirmish, because I do; but the last fight in the IS arena I had around here… had been more a joke then a match. I was brought out of my thinking as information flashed on the screen on the right wall beside the catapult. Looking at it, I skimmed it a second time as it was info on my opponent in this match… the representative from class 2… wait, isn't class 2's rep Rin?

The voice of the operator came over the speaker and told me to board the catapult to launch out and I did so. I cleared my head of clutter and focused on the match, getting into the zone. Leaning forward as the launch plate moved forward and picked up speed, I saw daylight coming up fast as the tunnel was coming to an end. Shooting off the catapult and into the air above the arena, I hovered looking across the field to my opponent.

Rin Huáng hovered in her IS unit across from me and just stared at me. At this time, Rin was wearing a pink one-piece swimsuit type pilot suit, which seemingly fit her, pink is a good color for Rin. A white collar sat at her neck, going down to cover her chest, but leaving space in the middle between her collarbone and upper chest. Also there was an orange tie looking object that was placed between the collar and filled the nonwhite space. There were white clamps on her waist and magenta ones at her bust; all of these parts were of course, a part of the restraint system of Rin's IS. Then on her forehead, was a magenta headpiece that made it appear that Rin had horns that pointed outward from her head at a horizontal angle. Although, that 'head ornament' was more likely the interface controller for her IS.

The unit's legs were black on the base color and the outside plating was magenta; like most ISs they either look like it's based on old school armor from medieval times or more science fiction looking. For Rin's machine, it was more towards the science fiction end. Whereas, the IS's arms was along the lines of old school armor, even if they were magenta. Now her machine's shoulder apparatus… Were somewhat hard for me to figure; simply put, they were spheres with spikes on them, coming out from the top diagonal direction on either side. The spheres were then covered by two sections of armor that were black and had a line of yellow orange; then in the very center of the sphere was an energy emitter. Now what was confusing me, was that by the specs, Rin's IS is supposed to have two impact/shock cannons; the sensible place to put them would be the shoulders and those energy emitters would agree with that assumption. Yet, with the size of the emitters, those would be rather weak impact cannons! For weapons, all it seemed that Rin had other than her 'impact cannons' were a pair of scimitars. The scimitars had longer handles than one would think of with Scimitars, and then with two scimitars, they likely could combine into a double bladed scimitar setup.

The expression on Rin's face was a serious one, no sign of the girl that was vying for my attention. Hopefully, that means she will take this seriously unlike how Cecilia had; I can have that aspiration. Granted, this skirmish won't be at the same level as my match with Cassidy, but that fight had ramped me up to have a challenging fight all the more, even if I lost. We'll see how this goes, "Wasn't expecting you would be the first opponent that I would fight against Rin." I said with a friendly air.

Rin drew both her scimitars, spun the around ending out to point them at me, "Don't take this the wrong way, you're nice… And I like that… But that doesn't mean I will be going easy on you in the match!" Replied Rin.

I returned a smile at Rin, to which she blushed, "Dooley noted Rin, wouldn't want it any other way. May the best pilot win."

The signal for the match to begin sounded; and immediately, Rin rushed towards me, scimitars slightly behind her in the position to strike me with a good amount of force. I leaned backward to dodge the first swing and spun to the right to avoid the second sword. Rin kept swinging her swords at me changing the direction of the path of the blades with each swing, but I kept evading her attacks. She combined her scimitars after a minute and continued swinging at me and yet I danced out of the way of her blades, having fun all the while. After about ninety seconds of doing this dance, I took out my beam sabers and stopped Rin's blades as they came in horizontally from either side. When I forced her attack back, she shot away from me and made some distance. Then, as I kept my eyes on her, the two sections of armor that enclosed the shoulder apparatus separated and a small orb of energy formed and grew a little.

A high pitch sounded and the two orbs disappeared… the weapon that I haven't seen yet, would be the impact cannons Rin is supposed to have, the high pitch was the signal of the discharge from the impact cannons and the hit that came from the right confirmed it. I saw Rin smiled and charged up again… ah yes, shock cannons have an invisible barrel and so, predicting where the shot will come from is harder… yet, I do love a challenge! However, I had seen how her shock cannons, I now knew that I had a few seconds to try and evade and avoiding the incoming shot should be easier with more distance. I now understand what Cassidy was talking about during our match when she mentioned impact cannons vs railguns.

The high pitch sounded again as Rin shot her impact cannon; I managed to raise my right arm and activate my light shield in time. There was a flash as Rin's shot collided with the light shield and the energy disbursed and the drain on my shield energy was less than the direct impact. Rin appeared shocked somewhat that I had blocked, but she shook her head and aimed again; I on the other hand, wasn't interested in taking or blocking more shots from her impact cannons.

As I dodge yet another shot from Rin, I brought out my railguns, and when they swung forward to my hips, they unfolded with a click of the cannons locking into operational position. I heard the short hum of the electromagnetic rails charging and I took aim at Rin and let both of my guns rip and unload. Rin was still aiming at me with her shock cannons; however, less than a second after I fired there was a loud boom of an explosion and Rin went flying toward the other side of the arena screaming in surprise. Rin managed to stop herself and stabilizer her unit and faced me again.

We were about to continue the match against each other, when Corinthos blared out a warning to me, and I shot backward as an energy beam came down from above blasting through the arena's barrier shield. Sirens began sounding and an announcement of the match being suspended and as I glanced around I observed the spectator stands' security bulkheads started closing one after the other to protect the students and guests. I landed softly on the ground still looking around to spot the cause of the hole in the barrier shield above. Breaking through the shield from the outside isn't an easy task, the shield is set to deflect and that's stronger than absorbing shots hitting it. When I saw five red glowing dots appeared in the smoke, I focused on them and tried to make out more of whatever had intruded into the arena.

The smoke settled and one of the oddest looking IS unit stood in the middle of a large crater. There was a human shaped figure in the middle… the pilot I would guess, but she was wearing a black skin tight suit that was showed nothing of the pilot herself. Two yellow lines ran down length wise in line with the shoulders and legs and then three lines ran perpendicular to the vertical ones, intersecting at the mid-chest, waist and hips. Even her head was in some kind of helmet… or whatever it was over her head. The five red dots I had locked onto before, were probably optical sensors; there was one where a person's mouth would be, one in the position of the right eye, two just left of where the left eye would be and the final optic was above the right eye. Whoever this was, she was going to a lot of trouble to prevent her identity from being found out, making sure to cover any place that could assist in the task.

The legs of this machine were simple, had a small section of white armor at the top and then a white strip running down the leg and the rest was black. There were also yellow ports along the joints and for the legs, on the outside just below the knees. The arms were quite different from the norm when it came to ISs; they were bulky and large and seemed to be connected with the shoulder weapons. The main arms were connected by three ring braces to the arm controls that the pilot was using. Also, the braces severed as the structures that the shoulder weapons were mounted on and the larger forearms and hands were attached to them. The forearms were much like the legs, simple yet bulky, though by my observations, had some type of cannon built into the top of the arm to sit on the wrist. As for the hands, they were much like what science fiction portrays robotic hands to be like.

There were two white tubes or cables going from the 'elbow' to the shoulders, for what purpose… I haven't the faintest. The shoulder weapons themselves, looked like mushrooms with protuberances sticking out of the top and pointing outward of the arm. There also were indentions with energy emitters on the front center of the shoulders. All in all, I didn't quite know what to make of this machine's design or what it could do; nevertheless, the one thing that's clear is this unit is dangerous! The shot through the defection setting of the barrier shield proved that, not just any kind of weapon can do such things!

Corinthos sound an alert and popped up two messages to me, the first message said that the arena's security systems had just activated to near their maximum levels, which was a tad odd. That doesn't just happen on a whim, nor due to operator error; only if an emergency occurs with the designed safety measures that the security protocols were executing come into play. Penetration of the barrier shield might fit an emergency, but not necessarily, it would still need input from the operators. The other message, though they were readings on this unknown IS, the readings didn't make sense to me or rather the implications that were being made by the information, "Corinthos, you're sure these readings of this machine are accurate?"

"Affirmative… there are no vital signs… nor any readings to register the pilot's condition…" Answered Corinthos.

… That shouldn't be possible… unless, "Then, can that mean that this IS, doesn't have a physical pilot… that it could be unmanned somehow?" I asked.

Corinthos was quiet for a moment, "It is the logical explanation with the current information." Was the answer.

Incredible! I mean, in theory such an idea of an unpiloted IS is feasible; but I didn't think anyone had actually succeeded yet! Not even the doll, the bunny or myself have done so yet as far as I know… which does bring up the possibility of either the life sized doll or the meddling bunny being responsible for this. However, that's nuts; as eccentric as they are, they wouldn't do… I shouldn't finish that thought. With those two women, they would pull this kind of crap, if given the right motivation for them. I've known them far too long not to know that, they tend not to care much about what others thought about them or think through the consequences of their actions.

My thought processes were interrupted as I saw the machine's right arm raise up and point at me. I shot right and a high powered beam shot through where I had been… and the power output; it was ridiculous! Hell, thus far, only my unit has something that can match it; one weapon configuration I have which gets around levels that high and that's in theory as I haven't tested it… yet, something wasn't right in this. The current situation is an extremely unlikely happenstance; this was planned, but why was what I couldn't figure out. It was almost like this machine has another goal in mind other than attacking whoever is in front of it. Rapid fired bolts came from the shoulder emitters aimed at me forcing me to focus back on the battle. I began dodging the incoming fire and grabbed my beam rifles and began shooting back at the enemy. "Corinthos, scan for any signals or transmissions being used at the moment that weren't going when the match started." I said while aiming and taking shots at the IS.

"Understood… scanning all frequencies" Corinthos replied.

I kept dodging the energy bolts, but they kept coming, "SAI, LOOK OUT!" called Rin's voice.

The girl barreled into me and pushed me to the left and seconds later, there came a heavy powered beam, passing through where I had been. Dang! That was close! I need to seriously focus or I'm going to die here! Bringing out my railguns, aimed and fired off some rounds at the enemy IS. Out of the four shots, I got only one direct hit; but with the explosive yield that the ammo I was using had, as long as I got in the close general area, which I did with all the shots, then the shockwave did enough damage to be effective in forcing my opponent back. The IS was force to back up a good twenty meters and by the way it moved and with the equipment it had that I could see, it wouldn't be able to fly easily. This machine wasn't exactly the most agile or nimble construct, that's for sure. Rin was using her shock cannons against the enemy machine; we were hitting the thing, but it was shaking off the shots and impacts with relative ease.

"Sai… I am detecting two distinct signals being transmitted on a vast frequency range… their sources come from outside the academy… unable to trace origin… both signals are overriding all other signals here." Corinthos said to me.

Interesting indeed, the plot thickens! This fact that Corinthos had just delivered made me more sure now than I was before, that either the bunny or the doll are involved in this situation somehow. This kind of signal transmission would require serious transceivers and hacking skill to get them here without the one responsible being here or being noticed until now. "Can you disrupt them?" I asked Corinthos.

The ten seconds that followed my question seemed longer than the ten seconds they were, "Negative… both signals are being transmitted so they overload all other transmission vectors." Corinthos answered.

Really… all of this is more than a little coincidental circumstances; from the two massive signals scrambling, to the IS shooting at me. … Whichever one of those women is doing this, I'll be having a stern talking to… and then doing whatever is needed to get the point across of how wrong this is! However, first things first, turn this construct into scrap metal and do so quickly. Yet… with this thing's weapons and power output from said weapons, that's easier said than done, but I have got to find a way, lives are at stake! There is the option to use my combined beam rifles… yet that's crazy! I would puncture not just the enemy IS energy shield and wherever I was aiming, but also the barrier shield and the stands behind it… it's times like this that the weapons and other things I make with the help of my friends, the magnitude of them sinks into my brain. …Wait hang on, if I shoot upward, then there will be nothing behind the target other than the barrier shield. Nonetheless, how to get that unit up in the air for long enough for me to get a shot off?

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Rin flying above me; she was weaving and dodging out of the weapon fire from the enemy machine. To her credit, the girl was really trying to help me handle this intruder in order to protect the lives of those in the arena stands, she wasn't doing much more than providing a distraction and an annoyance to this IS, but that's better than nothing. Nevertheless… with her here, perhaps we could execute my plan with her help. If she could somehow get the hunk of metal that we were trying to disable airborne, then I could unload a blast that could take this thing down. Yet… the question is, could she do the task of getting this IS to leap into the air in some way, shape or form?

Let's hope that short range communication isn't being effected by the signal overloading interference being broadcasted. I opened a communication line to Rin's IS, "Rin, do you read me?"

"Yeah, what?" was her reply.

Making my way over to where she was; it took me a moment to realize that the beams had ceased… that weird IS had stopped firing at us for whatever reason, I couldn't begin to think of why though. However, I returned the majority of my attention back to my female comrade, "Rin, you okay?" I asked.

She was breathing hard, but she nodded. "Yes, I believe so."

I was glancing in the direction or where there was a cloud of smoke, which I think is covering the IS from being visible. Our opponent wasn't making any movement or noise for that matter right now… like it was listening… perhaps to Rin and I talking. Yet, why would it be interested in listening to Rin and myself having a conversation?

"Is it just me, or is the way this IS acting, odd to you as well?" I casually asked Rin.

She looked at me confused, "What do you mean? It's an IS, a machine with a pilot; what is there to be odd? Pilot is probably just crazy."

What Rin said was possible, but with has happened… I doubt it. I kept my gaze on the area that the enemy IS was, "That's not what I was getting at, the way it's moving to the way it attacks, it's too precise and calculated to be natural." I answered.

"So, she's a really good shot." Said Rin shrugging.

I shook my head a bit before giving my answer, "No, the accuracy this IS is showing, goes beyond just being a good shot; this would be pinpoint target nailing that human beings don't often achieve, if we weren't moving unpredictably, we would be in far worse states than we are now. Also, if you haven't noticed, it hasn't been shooting at us as we've been talking; doesn't that strike you as different and out of the ordinary?"

Rin looked towards the field in the direction of the IS we had been fighting, "Yeah, I have been wondering why she hasn't been shooting at us, but what are you trying to say?"

"What if, this IS doesn't have an actual pilot? I mean, is it possible that this machine is unmanned, even as unlikely as it might be?" I stated as a question.

"Unmanned?" Queried Rin looking at me, then glancing back at where the IS likely was, "But that's not possible, an IS won't activate or move without a pilot, that's just the way it is."

I took a deep breath, "Hypothetically speaking, let's say this thing is unmanned…"

Rin stared at me in slight shock and incredulity, "Fine, for the sake of argument; let's say you're right and this IS doesn't have a pilot, what difference does that make?" She asked.

All the difference in the world Rin; a smile spread across my face, "No pilot, no need to hold back at all."

Such a simple statement earned me a look of confusion from Rin, "And you have something that can take that machine?"

Nodding, I went on, "Yes, I do have weapons that I don't use in combat and ones that I can't use in a match, but that's mostly because they're too powerful to use. One in particular, would do wonderfully; the problem is, it's far too powerful to use in a IS match or against a piloted IS, but if I don't have to hold back, I can unload. I just need you to get that hulk up into the air and then I can hit it… you think you're up to that Rin?"

"Well um, I think I could do that, but do you really think you can pull this off?" Rin asked me, almost in a plea for me to dismiss my crazy plan.

"Not a doubt about it, have faith Rin; just do your part and I'll handle the rest from there." I replied.

Rin gave me one last look, before she moved forward and I slowly moved to the ground. I had barely touched down when I heard weapon fire come from in front of me; glancing forward, I saw the enemy IS firing at Rin, but missing. The machine was completely ignoring me… makes me wonder what the program that it's running off of is supposed to be doing. Standing still to see if this machine would take the bait that Rin was providing, and hoping that it would. After a minute, the IS leapt into the air to chase Rin; which was what I wanted for the setup I wished for.

I took out my beam rifles, flipped a switch on each rifle. The left beam rifle's butt slide open, leaving a space for something to slot in; then the upper section of the barrel including the muzzle of the rifle itself, moved forward two thirds its own length, extending the rifle. In slight contrast, the right beam rifle changed much less, with only having the butt extending out. Once both rifles had shifted, I slotted my right beam rifle into the back of the left and folded the left rifle's handle in, combining the two guns into one long powerful gun, or as Matt has jokingly called this particular weapon configuration, 'BFG or, of course, Big F**king Gun'… sometimes I wonder about where these kinds of thoughts come from with him.

The butt of the rifle against my shoulder and my right hand held the handle and trigger which was on the still on the back half of the long rifle and my left hand held the underside of the weapon just in front of the middle of the rifle. I brought the long barreled rifle, swinging around to point upward at the area Rin was dodging the enemy IS's attacks. Corinthos displayed the charging sequence of my long rifle and the climbing power levels. I quickly locked in the targeting on the IS causing so many problems and the second I had a lock, I yelled through the communication line to Rin, "RIN, HIT THE DECK!"

I pulled the trigger, and out of the muzzle of my rifle, came a two-foot diameter green colored beam that shot upward towards the target. Rin managed to move out of the way; I was forced back a few feet from the recoil of the rifle, but I adjusted the rifle to keep pointing at the target. For a split second, it seemed like my beam would just miss the IS, but that wasn't so; my beam slammed into the enemy IS's energy shield with an audible boom, before the beam kept going and ripped through the energy shield and engulfed the right arm of the IS. The beam continued onward passed the machine and crashed into the barrier shield and within half a second pushed forward and shattered through it with a booming crash. This renewed the alarming sirens going off, due to the damage my weapon had just done to the arena defense and security. I ceased firing and stared to assess the damage I had caused. Hadn't been able to get a good look as I had been working on holding the rifle which the recoil and sheer force from the beam had made difficult.

When I caught sight of my target for the beam I had shot, I noted with satisfaction that the right arm; shoulder and the rest of the arm was completely gone for the IS. This only left arcing sparks from the port that the arm had been connected to and a bit of smoke from the port as well. My satisfaction waned a bit at the sight of the gaping hole behind the enemy machine in the barrier shield… that won't be a fun explanation later… d**n it! And I'll probably have to give my justification to Chifuyu… double d**n it; that will really suck!

My attention was snapped back to the enemy IS when it changed direction, backing away from Rin and heading towards the hole in the barrier shield I had created. OH NO IT DON'T! My unit's wings unfolded for full speed with a loud bang and igniting the thrusters, I shot off in pursuit of the machine. As I gave chase to the IS, I saw it go through the hole and that hole was getting smaller; the barrier shield was regenerating and repairing as it was designed to do. I needed to kick things into high gear or I would lose my quarry! As this won't be a closed quarters chase, I won't need to activate the other interface to go supersonic. My wing thrusters burned with a blinding flash as I gained a great deal of speed and I shot forward at near supersonic speeds; shooting through the gap in the barrier shield just before it got too small for me to get through. I quickly locked my targeting sites on the IS that had caused the problems today and began the work of closing the distance between us.

All communication had ceased shortly after leaving the arena and now I was out of range, I had shut off my comm system to conserve power. I didn't need the distractions from people trying to talk to me, mostly so I could focus on taking down this machine than anything else. It took almost an hour to catch up to my prey, while chasing it, I had to keep an eye on my MS unit's energy as I had used a lot to fire that high powered beam before… have to do some adjusting later to prevent that in future. Once I had closed the distance separating the two of us to thirty-five feet; I took aim with my rifles and began sending bolts of energy at my opponent. I needed to end this battle soon; with the amount of power than I had used already, I was left with about a third of the maximum energy level… hadn't known my beam rifles combined and the following chase would suck that much down, but then I've never test fired the combined rifles either. It was on the fifth shot I scored a solid hit on its propulsion system and the IS began its plummeting arc downward and I followed at a distance as if fell.

The machine hit the ground and bounced a few times, before it scraped to a halt making a trench as it went. I landed a short bit away, deactivated my wings for power conservation and observed the unusual machine, to make sure that it wasn't going to get up and start blasting away at me. My shield was sitting at an even two hundred at the current moment and I doubt that would last long under the firepower from this thing. Nonetheless, as smoke rose from the unit and the sound of cracking electricity; I approached cautiously, keeping up my guard. There were still energy readings coming from this thing according to Corinthos and I was inclined to believe its information as it had yet to fail me.

When I had gotten mere feet from the damaged IS, I kept my eye on it; I wasn't entirely sure it was disarmed and unable to attack. This thing had proven that it was resilient to a ridiculous degree; Rin and I had pounded this thing and it had been able to keep going without that many problems. Stiffening as the thing's head rose up and from one of the optical sensors put out a blue light and seemed to scan me. I stood still, not knowing what was going on completely, for this machine was acting in a way that I have never seen for other ISs. The scanning light disappeared after a few seconds and then a clicking sound got my full attention back to this unit. I readied myself to put this thing down once and for all, with a beam saber ready to ignite in one hand and a beam rifle in the other. Yet, what actually happened, was that part of its 'head' split open and some kind of projecting lens was exposed. The lens lit up and projecting to a spot right in front of me, the image of a woman appeared with her looking at me.

The woman or rather the image of the woman as that's what was being projected from this machine unit, was… 'different'. She was five foot six in height with a figure overall was feminine and was somewhat on the thinner side that the average. Her skin was porcelain in color, so much so that it could almost be considered white. This woman had straight golden blonde hair that went just beyond her shoulders and stopped on the top of her chest. Her hair had a blue ribbon or bow off center of the top of her forehead. The golden locks of hair framed her face and also accented her light blue eyes and pink lips.

The woman manner of dress consisted of a sky blue knee-length puffed sleeve dress that had a pinafore worn over the top of it. Then she had what could only be a white apron… likely made of silk sitting over her midsection, starting from just below her ribs and falling to her mid-thighs. In fact, the apron drew attention to the woman's chest, and it wasn't small! It appeared more like the fabric of the dress was being strained holding her… G sized breasts or at least that's the size they appeared to be. Completing her outfit, she was wearing ankle high boots with straps on the front. To be completely honest, she reminded me of one of those old fashion porcelain dolls; you know, the ones that people don't usually play with by display as they have lots of detail and tend to be hand crafted.

The woman gained a smile at seeing me, "I guess I should have figured it would be you, logically it makes sense. Long time no see Sai."

I stared back at the female and a whisper escaped my lips, "Alice…"

The woman's name as I had just uttered… Alice Masta, the third genius and creator of the Infinite Stratos along with the bunny and myself. The doll, chuckled at me whispering of her name, her smile was somewhat unnerving to me. I haven't seen her for around a year and a half, ever since she had gotten me out of a harsh bind I had been in and now she just suddenly appears right in front of me without warning?! I have no idea why she's here even if it's in an image, but that explains a few things about this IS, she's likely responsible for its construction and design.

"Nice of you to remember me Sai." Said the doll.

Like I could ever forget either of the two women that I spent around two years with after my male sire abandoned me. And the porcelain doll had been the nicer of the two, between the d**n bunny and her, she gave me time alone and separate from her, the stupid rabbit did only when she was forced to… and pulled off me by someone else usually. However, that didn't mean she hadn't done more than her fair share of hugging me… when I gave her permission or when I didn't. … See like the bunny, the life size doll still has the urge to wear… eccentric clothing… for her, something very similar to that of the main character 'Alice' from Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" is described to be wearing. "It's kind of hard to forget ones like the bunny and you, doll. Tell me, did you make this IS unit?" was my reply to her.

The doll didn't really care that I didn't call her by name, unlike the bunny who would try to convince me to use her name. The golden blonde opened her arms as if she wanted, and she probably did want to hug me… still kind of creeps me out, "Yes I made the IS, did you like it? Did you enjoy the experiment that it was tested in?"

You know, if it wasn't just the tone or the fact that Miss doll was smiling, when she rarely shows much emotion, then her question wouldn't seem out of the ordinary. Heck, with the face that she has right now; smiling makes her look rather beautiful. But, the doll I had come to know, showed little if any emotion when she was around other people; only around the bunny and myself really, hence the reason I call her doll. She really didn't open up much with Chifuyu and reacts more like she does with other people or rather the lack of reacting emotionally. It had taken some getting used to at first, the way that the porcelain doll was like; when I had first met her she had a straight, expressionless face all the time. However, not even a month past, she began showing her feelings around me and she took a shine to me. The doll then turned into the big sister doting on her little brother that she loves far too much than she should, with me being her little brother she dotes on.

Anyways, I didn't like the happy tone in which she stated responsibility for the wrecked machine in front of me. I'll admit this is quite impressive by this IS, though I somehow doubt this is the fourth generation or equivalent of the idea, that the life like doll is developing. Still, this thing could have hurt those watching the match in the arena and might have already, and the doll sounded like she didn't care about that fact at all! She was pleased as 'her' test had gone in a way that had gotten good data that helped advanced her work. But then, she probably doesn't care what could have happened to the people at the arena; the doll had rarely shown any thought in the possibility of injuring others. To her, they're nameless and faceless people that she doesn't know and just happen to be around where she's testing something… just numbers, that's all. The life sized doll is all about the empirical results of testing, experimenting and her work and the data that comes from it, not those who happen to be around it. "That depends, if you mean performance, then yes, it was impressive; if you mean what it was doing and the danger it presented to the innocent bystanders, then no, I wasn't amused." I answered.

The doll's face became flat and expressionless… now that's the look I remember seeing when we first met, "I see you're the same as you were the last time we talked, two different views of the same situation. Still think that you should just look at the resulting data, rather than the possible damage, it's far easier, quicker and you get clearer results." The doll said dryly.

The sigh came of its own accord at hearing the reasoning of Miss doll; this just goes to prove a sad truth. I'm the responsible one of the three creators and developer of the IS… and I'm years younger than the two women, that just makes it all the sadder! "As scientifically minded as ever porcelain doll, always looking at the empirical results rather than those you might hurt. On that, like I said before, we must agree, to disagree. However, I doubt that's the reason you sent this unit of yours to the IS academy, so what are you trying to accomplish?" I asked her.

The doll's lips once again regained the sisterly smile, "Now now Sai, you should know I won't just give an answer to a question. That's not how it works; you would become lazy were I to do that." Returned the woman.

"Of course, you've always been of the 'find the answer yourself so that you learn' mentality. Nonetheless, life sized doll, so that you know, try to pull a 'test' like this again around me, then don't expect me to help you in your tests or to even cover for you, I won't. I'll just turn your machine into scrap." I stated calm and coolly.

The doll… giggled at my reply… it was borderline between creepy and freaky, "Dooley noted, it really is nice to see you again Sai. Next time, let's do this in person, I would love to hug you as I haven't done so for so long… and I would recommend you start running…". oughing from the dust and dirt that had whipped o my hands and knees from the blast had been harsh, even with the distance I

The image of the doll faded and the projected light shut off. … What did she mean, 'start running'? **"Self-destruct will activate in twenty seconds… twenty… nineteen…"** Came a mechanical voice from the IS in front of me.

… Ah Crap! That's what she meant! Running would be a good idea, but the information the core that this unit had, could provide was very valuable! Making my decision, I rushed forward; partially deploying my MS, just the arms really. I proceeded to rip open the chest area and was proved right that this was unmanned; nestled inside was the IS core, connected to wires and cables. Grabbing the core, ripping it out and then without further hesitation, bolted off in the opposite direction. I wanted to make as much distance between that IS and myself! With the things the doll knows, I can't begin to guess what the coming explosion will be like… All I can say is that it'll be likely be big! Once the remaining seven seconds of the fifteen I had started with passed, there was a loud boom and I was sent to the ground by the shockwave from the explosion. The sound of fragments of metal and other material from the IS slamming into the ground around where I had fallen to the ground.

It took a few minutes for the ringing in my ears to stop, that shockwave from the blast had been harsh, even with the distance I had been able to gain before it occurred. I slowly got to my hands and knees, coughing from the dust and dirt that had whipped up. There was wreckage and debris scattered sporadically over an area of fifty feet; glancing around my immediate area I saw that I had a close call! Shrapnel on both sides and a couple feet away from where I had fallen; even had a piece that had impacted mere inches from the right side of where my head had been. Yet with all the scrap metal, I was unharmed… quite an amazing thing actually with the debris! I still had the IS core with me and I was alive, that was a good thing!

Yet… as I kept looking around me, taking in my environment… I began to realize that my troubles weren't over just yet, or as the phrase goes, 'I ain't out of the woods yet'! I couldn't help myself in what I was about to do; but as there was no one around me, so I can embarrass myself without shame.

" **D**N IT! WHAT THE HELL HAVE I DONE TO MYSELF AND WHERE IN THE F**K AM I?!"**

Wilderness as far as I could see, nothing but sparse grass and lots of dirt, all riddled with fragments of metal. I hadn't thought about where I had been heading when I had chased the IS the life like doll had built, and now here I am in the middle of freaking nowhere! Talk about getting yourself into a horrible situation by jumping into something head first. I was breathing hard after shouting at the top of my lungs, I hunched over, hands on my knees… screw it. I plopped down on my butt and sat, "Great… now what?"

Once I took the time to think, I decided on a plan of action… I can't just sit here and do nothing, I would go nuts! "Corinthos, what's the unit's status?"

"Unit is operational… repairs will be needed before heavy use… recommend keeping in standby mode for recharging sequence." Corinthos answered.

"And estimated time recharge will take?" I asked.

Corinthos's answer came promptly, "Three hours, twenty-two minutes and fifteen seconds."

So… no long distance flying if I want to stay alive… and unwise to use my unit for a little over three hours… that's wasn't what I wanted to hear… moving on to plan B. At least I have Corinthos to work with me, if that weren't the case, then I would be in even more direr straits! "Okay, let's start with figuring out where we are Corinthos."

There was silence for a full minute, "There are no public or open signals detected… unable to calculate location."

"Are there other signals that aren't open or public that you could use to pinpoint our location?" I asked in a bit of a sarcastic tone.

"Affirmative, there are military transmission signals and government channels." Corinthos replied.

I sighed at this; granted, I believe that Corinthos is developing into a kind of artificial intelligence and can state a couple of reasons to prove my point, but still it has a ways to go. "Corinthos, let me rephrase what I said, use whatever means necessary to find out our location, if that means you need to do things that aren't within the law, then don't get caught when you hack and cover your tracks when you do."

"Understood." Corinthos said.

Waiting as Corinthos did as I asked it to, I sat on the ground for two minutes. "Location confirmed…" my right arm MS section deployed, "Displaying map and location." Said Corinthos.

As I stared at the map and took in just how far I had chased the machine… I knew this would be a long day. Getting to my feet and beginning to trek in the direction in which the nearest place where people were. It was as the sun was almost touching the horizon, so a couple of hours, when I caught sight of a city and I headed down to it. Once I got directions to the train station and got myself a train ticket and rode it back towards Shinkrai. … You know, having the time to think now, maybe it would be wise to catch dinner with the gang at the house before heading back to the academy, I'm no idiot, I'm likely going to be mobbed when I do get back and it would be a long while before I could get food with that in mind.

The train ride was an hour and a half, when I had gotten to town I headed straight to the house. Of course, the gang had been a bit worried about me after I had gone off on the chase, but they didn't drown me like the girls will. Dinner was amazing and very much appreciated, I was hungry! While I was at the house, I extracted the data from the IS core, made a copy, altered a few pieces to make sure that the doll wouldn't be identified. I owed her a huge way!

A year and a half ago, that infuriating bunny 'asked'… no, more told me to take care of an 'issue' for her; that had ended actually being me having to take the fall for crap that cursed bunny committed and she was having me face the consequences in her place! That's why I'm so outright ticked at her right now! And the perverted bunny still has yet to give me a single explanation as to why she nearly, and if not for the doll, would have ended out in prison for most if not the rest of my life; nor has she given a single apology for what happened! The porcelain… no, Alice… had bailed me out the situation, by hacking and manipulating information. She had saved me and helped me in a way I couldn't have done myself. That's one of the major reasons I still talk to the doll and don't want to talk to the bunny. That metal eared bunny screws me over, the life sized doll may; but with her I do get to choose some of the elements of it, and she does help me from time to time.

Well eventually, I did head back to the academy and after reporting to the office to prove I was all right, was sent to my dorm. I had been asked about the unknown IS, to which I handed over the core with the altered information. I had no further interest in it, I had the original data and had no reason to make that known.

Anyways, I headed back towards the dorm and seeing that the lights were on, the feeling of dread grew in me. Again, I don't hate girls or anything like that, I just dislike them smothering me! That's due to the actions of the perverted bunny and the over sisterly doll pretty much doing that every day for two years to me. I was only able to squirm out of that occasionally, mostly because of Chifuyu's helpful interference. With trepidation, I placed my right hand on the handle of the front door of the dorm and after taking a deep steading breath, opened the door.

 **Chapter end!**

 **A/n**

 **And there is chapter 6, and yes, I am leaving it off on a cliffhanger for my amusement and enjoyment. I find it fairly amusing to build anticipation to a funny event. Anyway, please take the time to write a review and tell me what you think or if you think I should change something; heck suggest idea if you have them. The input is appreciated; until the next chapter.**


	7. Mounting Tension

**A/n**

 **Here be Chapter 7; sorry this one took longer than those before, but this will be the way going forward. With school now in full swing for me, the time I get for writing has gone down. Anyway, here is the continuation of where the cliffhanger left off in the last chapter.**

Chapter 7

Mounting Tension

It wasn't five seconds after opening the door, that I felt at least a dozen pairs of hands grabbing the clothes Matt had lent me… Thankful to have a friend like him at times like this; would rather not waltz in with me being in just my pilot outfit. I see bad things happening if I did that, and it would be kind of embarrassing in a way. Back to being pulled inside the dorm building, was a lot of force behind the many pairs of hands. I was blinded for a moment while my eyes adjusted to the difference in lighting from outside the dorm and inside. Even as I did so, voices assaulted my ears, the noise that I was trying to process were familiar, at least some were and others were less so. If I'm not mistaken, all my female classmates were piled on me and embracing me, some of them were crying I think. My brain registered the sensation of me being embraced and the horrible sickness I feel with that action washed over me… I'm in my… own personal HELL!

Now, one might ask why might this situation be my own personal hell; especially, where many other males would think they've died and gone to heaven? That answer and reason for that… Because none of those males who would love to be in this position, had ever been at the mercy of the perverted molesting bunny and/or the life sized porcelain sisterly doll when they felt the need to cuddle! And such a need and urge came often with those two women… I still wonder how I was able to survive what they did and still be as sane as I am! Speaking of the present, having this number of girls on me didn't affect me as much as their hugging me did, tightly I might add. This feeling reminded me far too much of a cuddle session with the bunny or the doll alone and I wasn't liking it at all!

A coping mechanism came into effect and like some form of magic; I somehow miraculously got out from under the pile of girls smothering me. I then, seemingly appeared on the left side of the dorm common room… don't ask me how I can do that, I still don't understand the how, just that I can and it saves me from dire situations. Without hesitation, I dove into hiding behind one of the sofas; I was breathing hard, bordering on hyperventilating. This was a testament to just how good I got slipping away from those who like to hug me, had a lot of practice with the metal eared bunny and the life like doll; and if I can escape those two, then I can pretty much escape anyone! "You're not looking so good Sai." Said an adult feminine voice.

Thought my heart was going to burst through my chest, ribcage, muscles and skin notwithstanding, at hearing the female voice. Spinning around, shifting into a stance to defend myself out of habit, and seeing the speaker was none other than Chifuyu. I managed to regain a little of my normal calm demeanor and glared at her, "Being smothered by this many girls, reminds me far too much of being forced to cuddle with the two you often helped me escape from. You really think I would like this kind of thing after some of the things the rabbit and the blonde marionette did, even as eccentric as those two women are, that doesn't give them an excuse!" I hissed.

The worried voices of girls came to my ears and lines asking where I had gone, and the calm I had evaporated and I began to shiver as images of being smothered again flashed in my mind, it would be what would happen, if I don't do something quick! Looking to Chifuyu with an expression of serious worry, I made a plea to the one who had been like an older sister to me. "Chifuyu… please, don't tell them I'm over here! … I'm asking this as your unofficial adopted brother, don't toss me to those female wolves! They'll tear me apart and I'm happier living!" I said fast and desperately.

Chifuyu smiled at my entreaty… that's not reassuring me! No, it's terrifying me more than anything, "My my Sai, you're so fortunate to have this many girls worrying about you, and you asking me for help?" She said with an amused tone.

I watched her glance towards girls who were looking for me and I paled, "You… you wouldn't dare Chifuyu!" I said in a shaky voice, "That's something that the lecherous hasenpfeffer would do to me for entertainment purposes, you wouldn't do that to me… would you?" I stuttered and whispered as I was hiding and my voice could give me away if it's too loud.

My 'sister' figure, which under most of the majority of circumstances, I would respect; smirked at me. I went from being pale to all the blood drained from my face in seconds. Yes, at this moment, Chifuyu would help my classmates find me rather than assist me, her adopted brother. She was going to get me back for the times I talked back and did what I know was toing the line during class and in the dorm! I gulped and shook my head franticly at Chifuyu, in the vain hope that she would listen. But no, payback is a B***h!

"Ladies, Sai is over here." Called Chifuyu.

Tensing up, but glared hard at Chifuyu, "I'll get you back for this Chifuyu, mark my words!" I growled at her and then I bolted down the hallway that started six feet from my hiding spot and sprinted as hard as I could.

However, that six feet was enough of a distance for some of the girls to see me. As if this was the hunting of the fox, like is still sometimes done in Great Britain; they bayed the alarm like any hunting hound would after catching the scent of the fox. And so, the chase began, with the part of the fox filled by myself and my classmates playing the parts of the hound and hunter. … I'm very glad I had dinner before coming back to the academy! It's helping me keep away from those pursuing me!

Not even a minute passed and I lost count of the turns I made down however many hallways of the dorm I ran down, and yet, the girls were able to find me! They're working as a team, and I have just myself; this is so unfair for me. It took me a full fifteen minutes for me to find and use an escape route… thank goodness for windows, they're life and virtue savers! Throwing open the window and diving out, then closing the window quickly but quietly before dropping to the ground. I listened for my classmates that had been closing in on me passing by the window I was hiding directly under outside. I had been holding my breath and exhaled it when the sound of the classmates faded.

The only way I could see this situation ending for the night was to make it to my room; I don't doubt my classmates have come to the same conclusion, as there is a lock on the door to keep them out. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if they have placed guards at the door to prevent me from getting through the door and locking them out. My peers were dead set on catching me tonight… for what purposes, I can't say for most of them at the moment. … However, there may be a way to get to my room WITHOUT entering by the door; the key being the balcony. If I can get to it, then I can enter the room without using the door; granted, Houki had insisted on keeping it locked. Nevertheless, I can unlock the balcony doors from the outside as I had placed a spare key covertly without her knowing it. It may be wrong of me, but I was prepared for the time that I would need to escape my female peers and so I did what I thought was necessary!

The challenge will be getting up to a third floor balcony without being caught by my pursuers. Climbing the outside wall is a tad too risky for my liking, and there are no trees to the balcony I'm aiming for, hence the difficulty for me, though there was a way. Normally, were I to use my IS without permission, I would get into serious trouble. There's a detection system that alerts the faculty of the use of an IS whenever one is used and so if I use my machine, that's like announcing myself breaking the rules here and now. I would bet Chifuyu is counting on that system to prevent me from using my unit. What Chifuyu doesn't know, I have Corinthos and it can hack through systems better and faster than any other hacker, other than maybe the bunny, the doll and myself when I concentrate hard. Now, under most circumstances, I wouldn't consider breaking the rules so blatantly, but Chifuyu hadn't helped me, so I don't see a reason to be good right now! I deployed my MS interface, since one-piece partial deployment doesn't register on the detection system as long as it's not a weapon, "Corinthos, I need you to hack into the IS detection system and make it so they can't see you or know that the unit has deployed at all." I stated.

"That is against the rules of the academy." Corinthos stated.

"I don't care at the moment! I'm in a direr circumstance and I need an out! Do it!" I returned in slight desperation.

"Understood… standby." Was the reply.

I waited, keeping quiet so I gave no more opportunity to my classmates to find me and resume smothering me and piling on top of me. Not saying that, many of the girls in my class don't have bodies developing nicely for their age thus far and I have noticed this as some of the girls are beginning to literally throw themselves at me in various ways. If not for the long term effects of the cuddle sessions of perverted rabbit and the cuddle happy doll, it wouldn't be as bad. However, those two women did things to traumatize me probably for life and I can't help that now.

"Detection system alterations complete." Corinthos told me.

Crawling out from under the window and off into the darkness of the night, I made my way around the building to the east side that the balcony I was going to use was on. Counting from the left side to the seventh balcony, which was the one to my room… I did the calculation earlier in case of a situation like this. It pays to be prepared and I'm glad I took the time to prepare an escape plan, just in case the need arose… like if a girl was going to drag me off to jump my bones… worst case scenario, but those are the ones you want to prepare for the most!

I donned my unit and flew up to the balcony and landed, deactivated my MS. Sliding a particular brick out and taking out the key I hid behind it, and then I slotted the brick back into place. The click of the lock disengaging was a somewhat comforting sound to me at the moment. Quietly entering the room, I snuck to the door and checked to make sure it was locked and after seeing that it was I relaxed slightly. Listening for a minute to see if I had been right in my guess of guards on the door and if my ears weren't deceiving me, there were indeed two or more girls guarding the door as I had predicted.

Making my way to the desk and sitting down, I sighed in frustration of my current problems; this had been a long non-fun day! I would have to get notes on the lectures I missed and catch up on college school work… this is just great! I wasn't in the right state of mind to do school work and I knew it, so, rising from the desk and flopping onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. Hadn't been lying long, when the sound of a key turning in the lock of the door alerted me that someone was about to come in. Instantly, I made a split second decision and rolled off the bed and into the gap between the wall of the bathroom and my bed. The door opened and then closed, the even foot falls echoed as whoever came in the room came into the bedroom area. I slowed and quieted my breathing pattern to further my effort to conceal myself and listened hard.

"Hmm… he isn't here, where could he be? I hope he wasn't caught by anyone yet." Said a female voice that I knew.

Exhaling, before making my presence know, "No Houki, none of our classmates caught me and I don't intend for them to." I said.

Hearing a gasp from Houki, I got to my feet and walked out of the gap between the bed and wall I had been secreted in. Next thing I knew, Houki was embracing me; I seized up. "Houki you mind letting go… I've had more… than enough hugging… for tonight." I managed to get out.

"Sorry I…" Houki said back letting go of me.

My roommate, even though she had let me go, kept staring at me; I gazed back, "What?"

"Are you really okay, I mean, with all that happened today…" She trailed off.

"Yes, I'm fine" I said that I was okay and laid back on my bed.

Houki cleared her throat and I raised my head, looking at her, "You seem… to have a problem of others hugging you, why is that?" She asked.

An involuntary shiver ran through my entire body at the question as I was well aware why the majority of other people hugging me feels so bad to me. The cause was the repetitive cuddle sessions, which were almost molestation crimes sometimes with the metal eared bunny and restraint periods with the life like doll. If that wasn't bad enough for me, it was worse when they came at me together, usually fainted during the session! The things they had done had traumatized me in ways that no psychological treatment exists for and unlikely ever will! I saw that Houki was gazing at me with a very worried expression. Could I tell her that her sister was one of the two who are at fault that I have my condition that makes hugging me such a bad thing? Would she even believe me? It's more likely Houki would ask just how close I was to her sister and I would rather not get into the relationship we once hand and have now. "Um… in the past… I experienced things that the feeling of being hugged by others feels horrible… I really don't want to talk about it." I said.

"But who did this to you?" Houki asked.

I had been afraid she would inquire that particular point, "Uh… I… I can't… say" I got out.

"You would protect someone that would cause this?!" My roommate replied.

Protect?! It's not that what I'm doing… exactly. I couldn't care less if the hasenpfeffer is seen as a pervert and a pedophile, she is just that. That's why I learned how to defend my virtue by whatever means necessary, whether the means are nice, mean or down right dirty. Yes, that perverted bunny had attempted to assault me a few times; the doll had stopped her most of the time… her sisterly side coming out I guess. I don't know if Houki knows what kind of a person her sister can be. I'm leaning towards my roommate not knowing what type of person her sister is. I wasn't able to stop myself in what I said next, "I'm not defend the perverted bunny. That's the last thing I would think of doing with what she's done to me." I mumbled.

Houki looked confused, "Perverted bunny? What are you talking about Sai?" she asked.

I snapped back to full attention, "Nothing! Not a single thing! Please just drop the subject for the time being!" I said.

Houki did as I asked, and so, we were about to get ready to turn in for the night with the conversation done. Therefore, I wasn't expecting the knock on the door that came; now who could that be? It's getting kind of late in the evening, so a visitor is unexpected. … This had better not be one of my classmates trying to catch me or drag me off in some way! I went over to the door and opened it slowly, ready to close it quick if my worst fears were justified. However, to my surprise, the one at the door wasn't a classmate, but Miss Yamada, "Miss Yamada… this is an unexpected visit; to what do Houki and I owe your visitation?" I asked in a calm voice.

Miss Yamada smiled at me, "Well Mister Taichi, it's moving day!" she answered in a happy tone.

Wait what?! Moving day? For whom? It better not be me, this arrangement isn't perhaps what I would have asked for, but I can trust Houki to keep in control of herself far more than other girls in this dorm building doing so! Tonight's activities proved to me that there are some girls who have some worrisome idea involving me should they catch me.

"Would you please clarify what you mean by moving day Miss Yamada?" I asked.

Houki came up to be right beside me and she was nodding in agreement with me. "There have been better arrangements made for the both of you; isn't that wonderful?" replied our sub-homeroom teacher.

I'll reserve judgment on said new arrangements, until I know exactly what the new arrangements are. Like I said, I'm fine with Houki being my roommate as she has proven that she can restrain her hormones and show self-control… not all the girls have been able to do so around me… even in broad daylight! In fact, over half of my classmates let alone my first year peers, would I trust to have good self-control or have a tight handle on their hormones really. I'm kind of worried about these 'new arrangements' that Miss Yamada keeps referring to. "What does these new arrangements entail Miss Yamada?" I asked in a completely serious tone.

"Well Mister Taichi, Miss Shinonono will be transferring rooms; after all, it isn't a wise idea to have a young man and woman sharing a room for too long. You both are maturing young adults, so it's best that you aren't given the temptations to make serious wrong decisions at your age." lectured our sub-homeroom teacher.

Not like I don't agree with her to a degree, but I'm stuck in that particular position whether I wish to be or not here. It comes from being the lone male here at this all girls' academy, whoever I get as a roommate, they will be female. Nonetheless, in my defense, I've shown maturity well beyond expectations of anyone here, but then, I've been around college students and so learned and practiced such maturity as my fellow college colleagues have. The problem I see with this, should I get a different roommate; that gives one girl the opportunity to give into the temptations that Miss Yamada is saying could happen! Sighing and rubbing my temples before I began saying my side of this, "Miss Yamada, not that I don't agree with you on a guy and girl sharing a room provides worrisome temptations, for I do. Nevertheless, as the only male here, I don't get a choice but to have a female roommate. Houki is more trustworthy than most of the other girls in this dorm building when it comes to self-control…" I started.

Houki blushed a bit at my compliment to her on her self-control, but our Sub Homeroom teacher shook her head. "I'm afraid, be that as it may, this cannot go on the way it is. For the time being Mister Taichi, you will not have a roommate." Interrupted Miss Yamada firmly.

Hearing that brought me to a halt in my thought processes. … Did she pretty much say that I'll be getting my own room for the time being! Actually, that's the best case scenario for me; no offense to Houki but, I feel even she would be tempted at some point in the future if she hasn't been already. She could probably handle it and refuse to give in for the time being, but on the off chance she doesn't… this works out better in the long run. I glanced over at Houki and saw her in turmoil… d**n it! Why does she have to pull such a cute face like that?! It makes this so much harder, "Sorry Houki, but Miss Yamada is right in this. You're free to visit of course, but even beyond high school level of education, a guy and gal sharing a room before they're married, is highly discouraged." I said evenly.

Houki looked downcast and I felt the pains of guilt, I turned to Miss Yamada, "If you could just give Houki her new room number, I'll help her get there." I stated.

It would be much easier to try and comfort Houki so that we part from being roommates on good terms rather than bad or hurt ones. Miss Yamada smiled and nodded; she gave me the number and left the room. After closing the door, I walked over to Houki, "You need or want help packing?" I asked.

Houki didn't answer me, exhaling, I sat down on my bed, "Look Houki, this doesn't have anything to do against you personally; you're nice and a good person. However, try for a moment, seeing this while being in my shoes. You're at a school where every single student, regardless of the year, is flirting with you during the day and beyond if they can. They all want a go at me and in all honesty, wouldn't be likely to say no if offered an opportunity to jump my bones and get me into the sack… if you know what I mean." I paused as I noted Houki's blush at mentioning what I had; indicating she did understand what I implied, "You have amazing self-control, I admit that and it's to your credit. Yet, can you say with absolute honesty, you haven't had a single thought about doing intimate activities that you would do with someone you have deep affections for; such as things married couples do in bed. And doing so with me?"

Houki was silent at my question, I took that to be an affirmative to my inquiry. I don't blame her at all, for it isn't exactly her fault; it's nature at work. Hell, I've had a passing thought and occasional dream that involved Houki and I… doing things that… would be done in the throes of passion and of an erotic nature; we shouldn't do things like that! I just know how to ignore the hormone induced thoughts and do just that, "Houki… look at me." I said to get her attention.

She did raise her head and meet my eyes with her own, "Don't be ashamed that such thoughts have gone through your mind; it's natural that it would happen. It's a part of growing up and your hormones are doing what they were designed to do; that's why what Miss Yamada said is valid. At our age, it's better to not even have the circumstances that provide the temptation so that we don't have the opportunity to make a choice like that which has such long lasting consequences. Even I have to concede that we're too young to have good judgement yet…" I stated to her.

"But I like you! Is that so wrong?!" interrupted Houki firmly.

Taken aback for a few seconds; yes, I had suspected she had some feelings for me, but hadn't been able to confirm the idea. I kept smiling, rose, went over and softly hugged the girl, ignoring the sickening feeling of the contact… the perverted bunny and the sisterly doll still make things hard for me! "No, you liking me isn't wrong, but I know with certainty, that I'm not ready to begin a serious, lifetime lasting relationship with anyone just yet… and I would doubt that you are either. That's the difference, at this age it's hard to see beyond the simple points of relationship and see the long lasting effects of it. We're still friends, never said anything to the contrary, that's how it needs to stay for the time being." I replied.

Houki seemed to accept my reasoning and started packing her things, I offered to help but she refused. After she was done packing, she bowed and thanked me for putting up with her and headed to her new room, leaving me alone in the dorm room. I stared at the door for a few minutes, before shaking my head and sighing due to the attempt I had just made to be nice and soften the blow of Houki not being my roommate. … I've said it before and I'll say it again, girls are strange creatures. Closing the door and locking it, I decided to take a shower before winding down and turning in for the night. It's not like I can do school work or things like that right now, my head is too full of jumbled thoughts. Although it is nice to have the privacy of my own room as it a sanctuary from the girls that badger me often during the day; I could do my homework in peace.

After the shower, I sat down at the desk and was looking through the original data from the IS core and found that the doll had indeed made the machine. I was looking as some of the unfamiliar data that was intriguing to me; when the second knock on the door of the night came. Looking up at the door, I wondered who it was this time. Switching off the terminal screen before getting up… more so that should it be Chifuyu at the door. It wouldn't be a good thing for her to see differing IS core data than the school has… and she would see it somehow. If such was seen, it would be rather incriminating evidence against me. Approaching the door and opening the door a crack, and seeing that it was Houki, I swung the door open the rest of the way. "Hey Houki, did you forget something?" I asked.

It had been around an hour since she had 'moved out' of the room, so why would she have come back? Either she forgot something or it's me she's here to see and if it's the latter, then I'm curious as to why. I'm leaning toward the second possibility with the faint blush that was developing on Houki's face. "Well… I was thinking, the individual tournament is coming up in a bit under a month…" Houki began.

Ah yes, the individual tournament; when pretty much all the students' skills are tested in matches against one another. I'll need another Saturday, preferably more than one at AIS R&D to do tuning before that… wonder if Cassidy could arrange that with her brother. But I'm getting distracted from Houki talking to me, that's rude of me. I refocused my attention back onto the girl at… my goodness… 'my door' now, that's going to take a little getting used to. "Yes, the tournament in coming up within a month; you brought this up because?" I asked leaving the question open for her to answer.

Houki took a deep breath and then looked me straight in the eye; I suddenly get a feeling of foreboding and it doesn't feel nice… Trouble is brewing; I feel it somehow. "If I win the tournament, then… then you HAVE TO DATE ME!" said Houki and the last four words were bellowed.

I blinked a few times… a date? Couldn't miss the slamming of a door down the hall somewhere… and so the feeling of an impending storm of problems grows… Returning my attention fully to Houki; if that's what she wanted, she should have just asked. It's so much easier and much less emotionally taxing to be upfront about it. Houki was breathing hard, yet she was staring at me, waiting for my response. "You know Houki, if you want a date that much, asking me directly is easier for both of us and a lot less taxing on you. As for an answer to your… request, I see no problem with that, it would likely be on a Sunday, hope that's not a problem for you." I calmly replied.

Houki had an expression of shock on her face, "Wait what?"

I gazed at her steadily and repeated my answer, "I believe I said sure, I'll take you on a date; it will probably be on a Sunday and I hope that works for you." I told her.

Houki was nodding her head, a smile on her face as she did. She then headed back towards I assume her new room; in a much brighter mood. Swearing I had just been seeing things, I leaned out of my room and watch Houki for a moment to ascertain if what I thought I had saw had been a trick of the light or fact. To my surprise and astonishment, Houki was skipping down the hallway like I had been indeed seeing; I didn't know she had it in her… interesting.

-Scene Change-

So, a week had passed since Houki had been switched rooms and I got my own room. Thus far, nothing had come from Houki asking me out on a date, yet I'm sure there had been girls listening in on that conversation. I would have expected rumors and gossip to arise the day afterwards. It was Thursday of a week after what had gone down with my classmates, so, around ten days had passed in total since that event. The day began like it usually did for me, wake up at 6 am, go on a morning jog. I had stopped by the house where my friends were staying to spend some time comparing note and school work as I do time to time; was still able to get back by a little after 7 am. Breakfast today, was… a subtle affair, the girls from the dorm had calm themselves down thank goodness and so they didn't assault me. Then came the first morning class of IS knowhow and that's when this day became less normal.

I was sitting in my seat, front and center; minding my own business, when I began to hear the before class gossip. Now, most of the time, I wouldn't really listen and take much of it, if any of what I heard seriously. Girls are after all, creatures of gossip, they seem to be unable to live without gossiping rumors about someone else. However today… well, let me just give you the rumor that irked me so much on hearing it. I learned of this troublesome rumor in the overheard conversation as follows:

"Hey have you heard the latest rumor?" Asked a classmate.

Once again, I'm always amazed at how the majority of the gossip that girls do, is utterly pointless and is in reality, a small truth that's blow so far out of proportion it's unrecognizable to what it was before. It's simply incredible, and I've seen and heard the idea in its various forms to understand that what I have stated is gossip in a way, some would disagree with this view, but they can shut up!

"You mean about that weird IS that is now somewhere in the school and is being dissected by members of the upper class." Said another female voice.

Hmm… I kind of wondered what type of rumors would fly around with that machine and the trouble it caused. Technically, I believe some of the staff, including Chifuyu and Miss Yamada have been examining it somewhere in the academy. Just amazed that it took this long for rumors to sprout up.

"No, not that one. The one of what you can win if you come out on top in the Individual Tournament." Replied the first classmate.

"I didn't think that there was a prize for the winner." Commented the second voice.

I began paying closer attention at hearing that; I wasn't aware that there was supposed to be a prize for the winner, makes a bit sense as it's to serve as motivation for best performance from the participation. Although, can't remember Chifuyu saying anything about such things; I would think that she would have said something as how well the students do from her class reflects on how her teaching sunk in.

"Well, it's more unofficial prize between the first years apparently, but the rumor is, the winner of the Tournament, gets to date Taichi exclusively!" Said the first voice.

WAIT WHAT?! I have said no such thing in my entire life! I'm no prized to be won… I thought I had gotten this point across… Yet apparently, here I am being portrayed as a prize once again, and it irks me so d**n much! Nevertheless, who started this rumor? I knew what it's source was, every piece of gossip starts from a small truth, that's an absolute in rumor and gossip I have found. The fact was Houki asking me for a date… but how it had gotten to this point… I can only guess.

"Wait, is that true!" Exclaimed the second girl.

No, it most certainly isn't! I wouldn't do that, I'm a human being and will be treated as one! These girls would understand and accept the fact that I'm a human being; or I'll leave, hunt down that meddling rabbit and make her life hell, consequences be d**ned to HELL!

"Yes, the source is trustworthy." Said the first classmate

Well, I would love to talk to this source, to know what they had said and set this straight! Plus, I am curious as to what this source gave as the truth, to result into this rumor.

"And does Taichi know about this?" Asked the second girl.

Shaking a small margin while I was sitting in my seat, I struggled to contain the frustration of being treated as a prize to be won. Now that I know about this… unspoken agreement among the girls, the answer is no to them. They're going to ask me properly or it will not happen. I'll be treated as an equal and no less than that! Even if they ask for a date with me, it will be on case by case basis for the answer; I won't be used by girls to make themselves look better.

"I think so, supposedly he agreed to the idea." Answered the first classmate of mine.

I was ready to shoot out of my chair and correct the girls, but I know that won't do much, yet to the others in classroom wouldn't have any clue that I wasn't finding the rumors and gossip that they were discussing. It was then I heard the voices of three of my classmates which I had gotten to know; Honne, Yuzu and Sayuka.

"Honne, you must have said something, that's the only way this kind of rumor started." Said Yuzu.

Honne's voice came next, "No, that can't be the reason."

I stood up from my seat and strode over to the three girls, "Excuse me ladies, could we step outside the classroom and have a word… Please!" I said in a controlled voice, but with a tone that left no room for argument.

The girls looked a bit scared of me and my request, yet they nodded and I gestured towards the door. They filed out the door and I followed them; once outside the classroom, I focused on them. "Okay ladies, which one of you talked about Houki asking me for an outing to start this rumor growing?" I asked them.

"Umm well…" Yuzu stammered.

They were looking between one another, looking nervous; then it hit me, they had been the ones listening to Houki asking me on a date should she win the tournament! That was what this subject of gossip was based upon the small truth! However now, instead of Houki getting a date because she asked me; was blown out of proportion to become, the winner of the tournament gets to exclusively date me… And I have agreed to doing so!

"Girls, you perhaps have yet to realize, that you mentioning in some form Houki asking to go on a date and winning of the tournament have nothing to do with anyone but Houki and myself. Yet with you combining both things into one and told it to someone else, that's how this rumor started! It's spiraling out of control. Doubtless, you've heard what the singular facts that you told others has turned into, have you not ladies?" I asked them flatly.

The Three girls hung their heads in shame, I sighed, "Please take this as a lesson that you shouldn't just say things that you hear, so this doesn't happen again anytime soon please." I said in a slightly tired tone.

The girls bowed to me, "We're sorry, please forgive us!" all three said at the same time.

Waving a hand in dismissal, "Yes, you're forgiven, just think about what affect the things you say will have, that's all I'll ask" the girls nodding as I turned and reentering the classroom with the three girls following me shortly afterward.

Class started not too long after all of us taking our seats; Miss Yamada told us that the Class league matches were canceled and that the Individual Tournament would be how we would be judged by those skirmishes for our practical skill level. It was our sub-homeroom teacher's next announcement that caught me off guard, "Also, we have a new student joining our class today." She said.

My head, which had been making its way slowly down towards the desk, shot up; another transfer student?! That's the second one in the last month… Somehow, I think me being here is part of the reason, but still. "You can come in now." Called Miss Yamada.

Through the door walked in a girl and she strode to the spot next to the teacher's lectern and she bowed. "Salut and hello, my name is Charlotte Dunois, it is very nice to meet you all." She said in a clear French accent.

The teenage girl stood at about five feet and a bit more, maybe half an inch on top of that when it came to height. She had harvest gold blonde hair, so it was darker than Alice's golden blonde hair; it went down to her waist and was tie in a ponytail by a red ribbon at the level of her neck. Her hair did frame her face quite nicely and even made it look kind of cute, brought attention to her chocolate brown eyes. Miss Dunois was wearing the standard academy uniform, though it was in my opinion, a tad shorter range on the skirt… some girls here have little if any modesty. It's either that or they're showing off… likely for me and trying to tempt me.

I hope that this girl doesn't attempt to cling to me like many of them do; it would be nice to have just one girl to talk to, as one would a friend. Not having to worry about her clinging or assaulting my person, or fighting with other girls over you like the members of the trio do. I would like someone to talk to who will actually pay attention to what I'm saying and not what they are imagining in their heads that involves me.

The Morning kept moving or rather crawling forward in my perspective, next event to note happened in practical training. It didn't even start with me being involved in the spectacle, like the time I was put on the spot to do a demonstration. In fact, as we were having combined practice with class 2, Chifuyu picked Cecilia and also Rin for that job, to which both girls didn't look happy about doing. Both were grumbling, that is until Chifuyu walked over to them and said something to them quietly so that the rest of us didn't hear what was spoken. Instantly, the two girls changed and began to show off a bit by saying that since they had personal ISs they were of a higher caliber. That made me suspicious of what Chifuyu whispered to them to get the girls' attitude to do a one-eighty like this. Charlotte came up beside me, she was wearing a dark blue-grey one-piece pilot suit with orange edge lining with an equally orange crest-like pendent on a chain around her neck. "What did Professor Orimura say to them I wonder, what do you think Taichi?" she asked.

I turned to face my newest classmate Charlotte Dunois and shrugged, "I haven't the faintest clue what Miss Orimura said to them. However, I think they may be setting themselves up to be taught a bit of a harsh lesson, if I were to give a guess… knowing our homeroom teacher." I answered.

"What makes you say that?" Spinning around I find myself looking at Houki.

Stumbling a few steps back as my former roommate was invading my personal space bubble, "Um well… let's just say that I've known Miss Orimura long enough to know that when she calls someone out, it's for a reason." I said and then mumble the rest of what I was thinking, "… And Chifuyu has always enjoyed shooting down another's arrogance and/or ego… a little too much in my opinion, but then so do I."

"Get out of the way! Please and Thank you!" cried an older female voice.

Upon hearing a scream that grew in volume, I looked up and saw a green spec getting bigger every passing second. I did a partial deployment that involved just my arms, but nothing else; moved over to a particular spot and waited. The feminine scream kept getting louder, I held out my arms ready to receive. Seconds later, I collapsed to the ground with extra weight; the weight was of a woman now in my arms and of all people, it was my sub-homeroom teacher Miss Yamada. My sub-homeroom teacher was in the same type of pilot suit as the girls were and to my surprise the suit seemed to be made of… spandex, the same material that swimwear is normally made of. How might I know this? Well… it wasn't my intention at all for it to happen… it just ended out this way! Um… you see… when I caught Maya Yamada… to prevent her from falling on her rear and maybe hurting herself like any gentleman would, I had to tighten my hold and... somehow my right hand shifted to something soft and squishy. I accidently squeezed whatever I held on to, in response I heard a moan very close at… hand. Please… don't tell me, that I'm holding onto… (gulp) what I think I am!

I glanced down and to my slight horror and embarrassment… and admittedly astonishment, I saw that my right hand was holding onto my sub-homeroom teacher's right boob. … Okay, in complete honesty, it was amazing to… oh how do some put it? Cup a feel… I think is how the phrase goes. The feeling of my fingers sinking into Maya Yamada's voluptuous right breast… well, let's just say that this will provide lots of material for the occasional wet dream I do have! Seriously, I didn't think a woman's rack could be this size in real life… without implants or alterations of some sort! But, as far as I know, Miss Yamada hasn't had anything like that and so, the breast that I was feeling was 'all natural'! This isn't helping me, need to think of something else quick!

Her IS! Miss Yamada was in an IS that was green over all, box or cubic shaped legs and streamline arms. There were two shields for the shoulder apparatus and below that was shoulder pads connected to the back brace. The unit had two lower back wings that connected to the back brace frame and there was hip armor that was a part of the restraint system of the IS. I was aware that the IS was the Raphael Revive model that is mass produced and still is one of the second generation machine that's used.

Miss Yamada shook her head and looked around and when she stopped, staring at my face; I believe she realized the position she was currently in. I reflexively squeezed my hands, and realized my right hand hadn't moved from where it had been and so, squeezed Miss Yamada's right breast. She moaned as my hand clutched her right boob; in response, both of her hands went to her… pink cheeks?! "(Moan) Oh my, this is kind of troubling. And you squeezing where you are, feels really good… and also somehow flattering at the same time." She said in a shy voice, "Not that I would say no if you're interested."

First things first! I opened my hand and removed it from its position and retracted it to my sub-homeroom teacher side, it was a mechanical movement. … Oh boy, I have the ability to make even older women to swoon over me… such frightening power I have, no? And to think, that she's only a few years older than me, though my friends are older than Miss Yamada; I mean, she's like eighteen I think. Granted, I have gone out with women that are years older than me, but Miss Yamada is my teacher, not a female interest. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean for my hand to land there, nor to squeeze, I deeply apologize! And flattering the offer for an outing with you is Miss Yamada, I'll have to respectfully decline for the moment. We're teacher and student, academy honor code and everything, you know." I answered her and moved her forward in my arms towards the ground.

She got to her feet and I got up onto my feet as well, not a few seconds after doing so, I saw two blue beams shoot past in front of my face not more than half a foot away. Reacting on reflex, a flash was seen and in my right MS arm appeared my beam rifle. I spun around to my left and aimed my rifle at Cecilia who had used her weapon bit to shoot close to me. "Cecilia… you fire a weapon at me, is an unwise decision." I said flatly.

"SAI!" yelled a voice that sounded a great deal like Rin's.

Glancing in the direction that the shout had come from, I saw Rin combining her scimitars and then she chucked the large blades at me. Okay, I understand that with what had just occurred, the trio specifically wouldn't be happy; but it was an accident and misunderstanding! I began moving and settling my rifle into a firing position, when a heavy gun going off from behind and Rin's blades took two direct hits and veered off hitting the ground and not me. Looking behind me and seeing my sub-homeroom teacher hunkered down on the ground and had a medium range sniper rifle, that she had just used to take care of the incoming scimitars.

"Thanks for the assist Miss Yamada." I said to her to show my gratitude.

"Oh, it was my pleasure Taichi." Replied Miss Yamada.

Chifuyu got back our attention and said that Cecilia and Rin would be facing off against Miss Yamada; so, two against one. As I thought, Chifuyu is teaching a lesson, this time to Cecilia and Rin, and at the same time beat down their arrogance. I kind of feel a little sorry for them as this will likely be embarrassing for the two girls. What's worse, the girls questioned the fairness of this mock battle, to which Chifuyu told them in essence that they would lose. Neither of the two ladies took that answer well and so began the match. The skirmish lasted a little over a minute; even in that short period of time, two things became clear. The first point of note, was that Rin and Cecilia don't understand what it means to work as a team or work together with another at all. Second, our teachers here weren't novices at piloting an IS; I knew that but now we had a proof of concept.

"Let this be a lesson to you all, your teachers know what they are talking about." Remarked Chifuyu, with a bit of a smug grin.

Gotta say, Chifuyu has always liked to break arrogant people of their pride… a little too much if you ask me. For the rest of the class period, we were told to divide ourselves into groups, with those of us that had personal machines as the group leaders. Group leaders, would help the rest of the group to get the training IS to move so that they can get experience and improve. The second I heard how the rest of the class time would go, I knew I was going to be a 'drag through hell' to an extent… Why? I'm the lone guy and I'm a group leader by default as I have my own machine. … Being as popular as I am, just sucks!

"All right, now get yourselves into groups!" Barked Chifuyu.

Once Chifuyu had said that, I was surrounded by classmates and girls from class 2; hell pretty much all the girls here were crowding around me! I couldn't stay silent, "Ladies, as flattering as it is for you all to want to be in a group with me, I'm sorry to say that's not possible with these numbers." I said.

Did the girls listen to me? Do they ever listen to me?! No, my attempted comment to get them to go to other groups, ended out with them fawning over me instead! The numbers of females surged forward and began to press against me and drown me; some embraced me like I was some kind of plush animal.

"LADIES, BACK OFF! You all can't be in a group with Taichi. Now divide yourselves evenly or Miss Yamada and I will assign you into groups and you will have no choice in the matter!" Bellowed Chifuyu.

Thank you, sister! The action is very much appreciated, as then they can't argue with me! The girls shuffled to the different group leaders, that took five minutes and so I find myself surrounded by fifteen girls. Well, might as well get this started so that I can be done with it sooner rather than later. "Okay girls, who is first to mount and take a turn on trying out the training IS?" I asked the group at large.

"It's me, it's me!" called a high feminine voice that had a slight drawl.

I turned to face the owner of the voice and saw it was one of my classmates that I didn't know her name, but was aware of as she was one of the girls that had been getting bolder. She had a height of four-foot ten-inches and was fit, likely due to some sort of exercise. The classmate, had orchid colored hair that was short, coming down to the bottom of her face and framed her face including her brown eyes. She was wearing the standard academy pilot suit, which in my view still look like one piece swimsuits for females. The outfit accented her bust, that was by my estimation, is between a size B to a C.

"My name is Kiyoka Aikawa; my interests are handball and jogging. It's nice to meet you and I'll be in your care." She greeted me bowing with one hand stretched out towards me.

Okay… TMI. This is going to be a very long day, isn't it? "Um… well then, come and let's get you mounted in the unit." I said.

Miss Aikawa, when she got mounted, which took a little while; she used the next ten minutes to get the IS to move, jerkily so, but nonetheless she got it to move and that's progress. When her turn was done, she had slid down from the IS, I noted that the IS was still deployed, just in standby mode… So whoever was next would have difficulty getting to the cockpit of the machine. It was a rookie mistake and I expected at least one of the girls to do it, means that I'll be doing extra work. I sighed, "Okay then, who's next?" I asked the group at large.

"That would be me." I turned to the owner of the voice and saw it was Houki. She was looking up to the cockpit of the IS, "But there is a problem, as I cannot get to the cockpit with the IS like this." She said.

I nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I figured this would happen at least once today. It is a common mistake in the beginning." I answered, thinking for a moment on how to solve this dilemma. The only way I could think of was to… get Houki to the cockpit, that would require me to carry her and I can see the protests and demands for the same treatment from the other girls in the group. Well, might as well get this over and done with…

Activating my unit in a flash I then approached Houki; she looked at me with apprehension, "What do you plan to do?" She asked me.

I stared at her for a moment, "Well, as you need to mount the IS, I'll be lifting you up and bringing you to the level of cockpit." I said.

Houki had an expression of trepidation, "And just how do you intend to do that?" she snapped.

Really? D**n, doubtless she knows what I'll be doing, you would think she would be happy about this thus far, but no, she questioning my motives. I moved over and bent down, holding out my arms to her, "Carrying you up to the cockpit sounds about right, would you prefer a ladder perhaps?" I inquired.

"Excuse me!" Shouted Houki in surprise.

The girl backed up from me slightly, exhaling heavily, I moved forward and scooped her up and carried her bridal style and spun around to face the training IS. I gave her a smile to humor her and perhaps get her to calm down, "You're excuse Houki; now then, hold on and I'll get you up to the cockpit." I returned.

Houki looked up at me blushing slightly and then she hid her face in the chest plate restraint, likely so that no one else could see her blush. She can be really cute sometimes… I made my way over to the training IS, shifted Houki in my arms and got her safely onto the IS and she began mounting, and then she started talking at the same time, "Hey Sai, do you have any plans for lunch?"

Thinking for a minute, I shook my head slowly, "Not that I can think of, as long as I'm done before one-o-clock to get to my first afternoon class, I'm free." I replied.

Houki's face lit up with happiness, "Good, good; then perhaps we could have lunch together?" Posed Houki in the form of a question that sounded like she was making a plea.

"Um… sure, don't see why not." I replied, why Houki was sounding kind of nervous about asking me to have lunch with her, is confusing me a little. If Houki didn't get that I would prefer to be asked things upfront when she asked me to date her and my following comment/advice, then I'm not sure what it will take to get her to understand.

So, in my opinion, class was double the length of time than it was supposed to be; at least it seemed that way, it could be because the numbers of girls I was teaching somehow multiplied and changed! In other words, the girls skirted around Chifuyu's instructions and managed to slip into my group, as others switched out, it was like an unspoken agreement between them. I know for a fact, that I saw all the members of class 1 throughout the duration of the class period, they were just, as I said switching places; so that I ended out teaching more than my fair share.

However, there was light at the end of the tunnel, lunch time comes after practical training! You see, when Houki had moved out and I had taken the time to fully explore the dorm room in detail without putting myself in danger of any sort; I had found out, by accident that there is actually a 'kitchen' piece in the dorm that was never mentioned to me. The funny thing was, in the 'bathroom opposite of the sink, there is a handle I have never noticed before now. When I had pulled out and slid to the right, to my surprise, a stove/oven and microwave setup along with a moderate sized refrigerator had been tucked away… Who knew?

Anyways, this morning; I had stopped by a convenient store on my jog and got the essentials for the next few days, it was like doing weighted jogging on the way back! With the food I bought, I made a simple lunch for myself; as much to practice my cooking skills, marginal as they are, they're better than nothing. I started learning when I was younger, the life like doll could make basic stuff… Like toast and sandwiches; the metal eared bunny… well, with her skills, somehow… she can manage to burn boiling water, don't ask me how she does that, I don't know! The results are just horrible to observe, that's all I can say with any surety. She wasn't allowed in the kitchen back when it was her, the doll and me… For obvious reasons, woman can pretty much can burn anything she tries to cook!

Back to lunch, as Houki had asked if she could have lunch with me and I had agreed, we had decided on a spot that was by a pond and had trees around it after class. It was nice and peaceful and that was a place I had passed it during some of my morning jaunts and it had caught my eye. Houki went ahead of me; surprisingly, Cecilia and Rin had disappeared off to somewhere, not that I'm complaining with the rest bit I get from them. I changed from my pilot suit and collected my school bag and exited the locker room… And was met by Charlotte Dunois the transfer student and my newest classmate. She looked a bit lost at the moment as I stared at her; the few other girls in this hallway were looking confused by her, but then she was jabbering in French. Luckily for her, I know the French language and so can understand her and talk to her so that she understands. I approached her slowly as she was getting kind of panicked, "Euh ... tu vas bien Mlle Dunois? Si vous calmer, puis, peut-être je pourrais vous aider." I said in French.

Miss Dunois stopped when I spoke to her and she just looked at me in disbelief, "Vous me comprenez et pouvez parler français?" She asked me.

I nodded, "Oui, oui en effet je peux Mlle Dunois; maintenant, ce qui semble être vous inquiéter, si je peux renseigner?"

She gave me a shy smile, "Eh bien, je ne connais personne ici encore et je suis perdu. Je vais à la cafétéria pour obtenir de la nourriture pour le déjeuner, mais…" She trailed off.

I put a finger to my chin, "Eh bien… Que diriez-vous de vous joindre à moi pour le déjeuner; Je me souviens du sentiment d'être de nouveau ici. Alors, que dites-vous, Mlle Dunois ?" I asked kindly.

"Vous… Vous voulez vraiment pas l'esprit?!" Miss Dunois asked with a little shock.

Shaking my head, I answered her, "Bien sûr que non." I replied.

And with that said I set off and Charlotte Dunois was beside me as I headed to the spot I had picked out. Along the way, Charlotte asked me how I knew the French language; to which I began telling her about my friend Olivia. It was nice to talk about a friend I had made in the United States; I hadn't been able to as the girls at the academy hadn't asked me or even shown any curiosity about myself as a person. The amusing point throughout the conversation, Charlotte didn't once ask how I actually met Olivia or where; so, the point of me being a college student never came up in the conversation, not that I'm against that. When I had explained that I'm a university attendee, it had taken time and effort to calm her down and help her understand why a college student is doing at a high school.

Anyways, when we did reach the place by the pond, I saw that Houki was already there and she scowled a little at seeing Charlotte with me. "What is this?" She asked… And in a controlled tone, she's learning and getting better Than when I first met Houki.

"Well, as I was exiting the locker room, I saw Miss Dunois and she appeared lost. Being the gentleman that I am; assisted her. I thought that it would be nice to invite her to lunch and get to know her a little better. Is there a problem with that?" I said.

Houki sighed and shook her head and mumbled that it was fine that Charlotte would be joining us. We sat down under one of the larger trees by the pond, within a few minutes however, Cecilia and Rin showed up… I should've known that this would happen. After all, why would the full trio give me a day off where I wouldn't have to deal with all three of them silently fighting over my attention like I'm ignorant of them doing so. They have been badgering me since not too long after the end of the first week; why would they stop now? Well the atmosphere, which had been fairly good had quickly descended to a feel of jealousy between the girls like it usually did. Charlotte looked between the girls and then to me; "Um… Are you sure that it is okay for me to be here?" Charlotte managed to say in fairly okay Japanese.

I glanced at the trio and then faced Charlotte again, "Oh don't worry, this is normal with these three; it isn't you that's causing this. It's more me that's the root of this and I didn't do a dang thing for this to start. You'll get used to this in time, just ignore it." I returned, then turning back the three female… Who were staring each other down and didn't even hear me insulting them to extent. "Listen up ladies!" I snapped.

The trio spun around and locked their gazes on me, "If the three of you intend to stay here, then the three of you will learn to get along or at least tolerate one another. Or else I'll start sending you away one by one. This covert fight you are having between each other will no long happen in my presence, you can have at one another while I'm not around for all I care, just not in front of me!" I stated firmly.

It had been enviable for me to have to say something like that, it was only a matter of time. I sat down and opened my boxed lunch, which for me with an insulated box; I made some spaghetti, a salad and some mixed fruit; so, nothing that complicated really in my view. I began to think about what to eat first; the other girls were silent, but they sat down by me and brought out their lunches. "Wow Taichi, didn't think you would be able to cook like this." Commented Charlotte as she looked at my boxed lunch I had whipped up this morning.

Looking over to Charlotte with fork in my right hand about to scoop up food, "First, just call me Sai, not Taichi; I get enough of that from the teachers. Second, you think I'm a good cook? I've just picked up the skill and have been practicing since I was young." I replied.

"Oh my, you must have dutiful parents." Said Cecilia.

A feeling of anger and rage washed over me at Cecilia's comment; for it delved into a subject that I dislike with a passion. The only 'parent' I ever knew was my male sire, the man who in the end, had abandoned me. Mother was dead before I could remember, was before I turned four. Back to my old man and what he thought of me, I still bear marks of my 'father's' opinion of me, which he had shown to me physically… really, it's quite amazing that I survived that experience and only have scars across a good portion of my back to show for it and not worse! After that man had left me to survive on my own and when who knows where; I met both The bunny and the doll. The reason I knew how to cook, was after I met and had pretty much been taken in by metal eared bunny and the life sized doll; it was the way to keep healthy! The useless bunny couldn't cook at all, that's no joke! The porcelain doll could do enough with food that we could eat, but it just wouldn't do for the long term and I knew it. Hence, my interest in learning and so found information and taught myself how to cook through experimentation.

"No, I taught myself how to cook and just have practiced for a lot of time." I replied curtly, and to change the subject and get off the one I didn't want to get into, "So then, what have you ladies make for lunch for yourselves?"

As I glanced over at the boxed lunches opening, I saw a variety of different foods. Cecilia had a… picnic basket of sandwiches that, from what I could see, had vegetables and various meats between the pieces of the bread… several sandwiches in fact. … You know, I suddenly get the image of a bear with a tie and hat saying to another smaller bear with a bowtie, "Hey Boo Boo, let's go get us a Pic-a-nic basket!" before they would rush by and stealing Cecilia's basket… actually that's very humorous to picture! In Rin's box of food, was a rendition of sweet and sour pork I believe; Jia had made me the stuff before and it was tasty. But then, tis a Chinese dish originally after all, so it would fit that she could know the art of making the recipe. Finally, in the box Houki brought with her, there was a couple of things in it; first was the half the box of white rice to eat with all the other food. Second was the meat which I would assume is chicken, but it could be another type of meat and beside that was some folded fried eggs.

"So then, you girls interested in sharing and trying some of each other's lunches?" I asked nonchalantly.

And so, that's we did; the first food I tried was one of the sandwiches from Cecilia's basket and took a bite. As I chewed, the first wave of taste hit my brain; I ceased chewing… I have no idea how, but Cecilia, is only one step above the bunny. In short, Cecilia can cook and make stuff that isn't edible, but is recognizable and looks decent; the useless bunny just burned and disfigured things to be unedible and unrecognizable. I swallowed hard, and grabbed my drink and began chugging; once I had drunk a little more than half the thirty-two-ounce container of liquid I took a deep breath to steady myself. Cecilia was looking at me expectantly… probably to have my opinion on her food. Now, that I tasted it; I can understand why England can win the world's worse cuisine award as many times as they have. I cleared my throat, "Cecilia, have you tasted these sandwiches yourself? The key to improving one's cooking is to try things out, to see what works and what doesn't." I said flatly in the attempt to be nice.

Whatever I put in my mouth next; I need actual food going down my throat, my stomach isn't happy with the… stuff I had just given it. Houki offered some of what she had made and it looked okay, so I accepted. The chicken and rice, was good and mercifully calmed my stomach from the unpleasant stirring that they bit of sandwich I had gotten down. I commented that it had tasted nice and that Houki just needed to keep practicing and it could only get better. I so, regretted the comment as it served to have the trio get even more pushy than they normally are! These girls are going to drive me nuts at some point!

Hearing a chuckle, I looked to the source, and saw it was Charlotte, "You wish to tell me what you find so funny Charlotte?" I asked.

"You are quite popular aren't you?" She replied.

I sighed, "You have no idea, it isn't all it's cracked up to be." I muttered.

-Scene Change-

With today being Friday, the events that had occurred yesterday, I wondered if anything could top it today; I hope not. Well, it didn't take very long to get my answer and be proved that things can always get more complicated and fast. First class of the morning… seems to be where things have a tendency to get problematic; today was no exception. Once Miss Yamada had quieted the class down and had our attention, she made an announcement to us all, "Listen up everyone, we have yet another new transfer student!" She said with an upbeat tone in her voice.

… Again?! Another one… a day after the last girl joining the class?! Please, someone say they see this is as odd and weird as I see it being. Miss Yamada spoke again, "You can come in now."

Into the room walked the assumed 'transfer student'; and to say that she stood out and was different, would be an understatement. Her height was four foot ten, but that wasn't what drew one's attention. First feature of note, her hair; it was waist length and was silver platinum in color. Granted, some of the girls here have some unique colors for their hair and I swear some have to die their hair. Back to the new girl, she had paler skin than most of the girls at the academy, though not as white as the doll's porcelain skin. The teenager's right eye was a deep red, almost the color of blood and an eyepatch over her left eye, which made an interesting impression for a girl of fifteen.

Her uniform was also a far cry from the norm of the academy; it was the same color scheme, but the style just screamed 'I don't know a thing about fashion, and so only know how to wear a uniform'. The top half of her uniform was like the other girls, but she was wearing a tie instead of a ribbon. The bottom half, she had pants that puffed out around the knees and she was wearing military combat boots. All and all, it wasn't just this girl's hair color, physical appearance or her clothes that was different, her air of absolute confidence was what made me curious. The girl came to a stop at the teaching lectern, snapped to attention much like a trained soldier would do to their commanding officer and said nothing

"Miss Bodewig, introduce yourself." Said Chifuyu.

"Ja vole, mentor." Was the reply from the new girl, then turning to the class at large she spoke, "My name is Laura Bodewig." She said in a pronounced German accent.

She was silent after saying her name, not that I couldn't understand being to the point and not saying more than needed, but it's rare with girls. Miss Bodewig clearly knew Chifuyu, with calling her 'mentor'; perhaps met her during that period of time that Chifuyu was in Germany, who knows? Chifuyu doesn't talk about that time really and I don't ask as a way of showing respect to her.

Miss Yamada began to get a tad nervous with the silence from Miss Bodewig, "Is that all you wanted to say Miss Bodewig?" asked Miss Yamada.

"Ja, ma'am." Answered Miss Bodewig and then she caught sight of me.

Her expression turned into one of frustration and hatred; she made her way over to me, I have no idea what to expect from her, so did nothing. When she came to stand in front of my desk, she raised her right hand and brought it down across my cheek. It stung a bit, but I more wished to know why this girl, that I have never met, just slapped me. Speaking of physical hits in whichever form or style it takes; If I have earned a hit, I'll take it. However, if I haven't earned the hit then I won't let someone do that just because they feel like it or have some dumb reason they have! I turned my head slowly but steadily back to glare at Miss Bodewig with a face that was devoid of expression… I learned very well, how to do so from the sisterly doll herself. "Why… might I ask; did you just slap me… Miss Bodewig?" I asked coldly.

"I do not approve; I will never approve that one like you, is close to the caliber required to be an IS pilot!" She stated to me, looking at me with a look of disgust.

Bodewig raised her hand again to slap me, but I caught it and held it firmly to prevent her from drawing back. I wasn't actually looking at her directly, but that didn't matter to me at the moment, "Well technically Miss Bodewig, it isn't up to you, to approve of me or not. Should you have a problem with my attendance, feel free to take your complaint to the headmistress; she'll tell you in some way to deal with it. And for your information and understanding, I'm an equal, not an inferior; I can pilot the Infinite Stratos machine just as anyone else here can." I locked my gaze on Bodewig and continued no longer being nice at all, "As a matter of fact, you can bet you're a** that I'm pretty d**n good at it." I said still keeping the cold tone I had before even when I use words considered foul and inappropriate.

There were gasps from some of my classmates as I had said words that aren't common around here, or at least as common as in the US. In my answer to Bodewig and she tried to draw her hand away, yet I clenched down and stopped her. "If you don't believe me, then wait till the upcoming tournament in a few weeks, I'll d**n well prove it so that no one can say sh*t to the contrary about what I can do."

We were glaring daggers at one another; the only question left to be answered is who would strike first and start the fight between the two of us. That's before a bark I knew all too well sounded and made me realize that I could be in trouble. "Taichi! Let Bodewig go, and watch what comes from your mouth in the classroom, or I'll personally wash it out to my satisfaction! Bodewig, stand down and keep your opinions of others to yourself!" Barked Chifuyu.

I did as I was told to and let go of Bodewig's wrist and leaned back in my seat, becoming silent. Really wasn't interested to have Chifuyu wash out my mouth to her satisfaction; it's happened only once… She thoroughly washed Ichika's and my own mouth out when some of the foul language we had heard came out in her presence, but didn't fully understand back at the time. That was a horrible experience that I don't want to repeat in the future! Bodewig took her seat and kept glaring at me throughout class, and yes, I felt her doing so. Well, I say let her glare and fume, I'll show her when the tournament comes in a few weeks. When class ended, I slipped out of the classroom and managed to avoid the silver headed girl somehow for the rest of the day, I didn't want to give myself the temptation to teach her a lesson that her view of me was dead wrong. Chifuyu would punish me for taking such actions, whether it was my fault or not.

-Scene Change-

At long last Saturday arrived! And oh, did I have plans for this day… big plans! Some of my peers were getting bold to the point that there was a serious risk to my safety when adults weren't around, and the other girls my age were getting to be more assertive as time goes on. So, I see the need to prepare defenses and tactics to combat this rising threat! This will be done in two different stages; the first was to fortify my room against those who would assault it and try to gain entry. The second and third do relate somewhat; those being planning set escape routes when I get into trouble and preparing the last place of security.

The first task, I enlisted the help from my friends with the most urgent job to be done that I couldn't afford to delay on. It required some remodeling in my room, not anything against the rules of the academy or the dorm, still things I believe necessary and would justify as the need arose. Last night, I took measurements of a couple of places; the door frame, the kitchen space specifically the space the refrigerator was in and one corner of the room by the balcony and the bathroom. Those were two out of the three priorities, reinforcing the door and installing locks, improve the signal for my computer terminal, improving food storage should I come under siege and I would like to do some stuff with the bathroom. The way the girls were getting around me, I needed to pretty much treat this as if I was going to war, for in a way, it may end out to be that way. Only time will tell.

Luckily, I happened to bump into the student council president, Tatenashi Sarashiki. That meeting had been something else, that's for sure. The second year girl that was interestingly the student council president had a height of 160cm. Tatenashi had short light blue hair, a rarity along with dark red eyes. Her figure was voluptuous with slender thighs. Her IS Academy uniform consists of the typical white and red blouse that is shorter compared to others, with a yellow tie and a light yellow overcoat around it along with red leggings. She had a blue fan with her at the time and the kanji that indicates preparation.

When I talked to her and told her what was developing for me, she at least listened to me. After she giggled for a couple of minutes at my situation, she gave me permission to do the alterations I had in mind and for my colleagues to give me a hand. Although, she did say that I owed her a favor that she would collect later, which worried me somewhat. The point is that I have permission from the Student Council President to do what I plan, and that was akin to have the permission of one of the faculty here at the academy.

So, the morning was spent going out and purchasing the parts and supplies that would be needed to do the jobs I had. Stores such as the hardware store, or what is akin to it here in Japan, went to two of those; computer store for parts and one other pace which I shouldn't name as I could get into some trouble. Not the riské type of place, the kind of store that sells stuff they shouldn't, much like a black market… I didn't ask where the stuff being sold came from and the seller didn't ask what I would be using the stuff for, I'll leave it at that. Thankfully, Luther had the wisdom to rent a truck for the tasks of the day. And so, we went to the different stores and when we had the stuff for the improvements, the gang and I realized that it was lunch time and so we went out to eat. Afterwards, we headed back to the academy dorm; the girls carried the lighter cables and we guys hauled the rest up the three floors to my room.

It took a good portion of the afternoon to do the work on the main entry doorway, I mean; it was a major problem to solve for me. To make this door strong enough to keep out those I don't wish to intrude or gain entrance without permission! Matt, Luther and I were quick to take out the standard piece of crap that's a hollow and kind of flimsy door the dorm was equipped with. Such a door couldn't keep out determined girls, that much was obvious. We put in a much more durable and well-built door as its replacement; was made out of solid ebony wood. I have no clue as to why the story we got it from had one door made of the hard wood in stock, but hopefully it would be worth the price and keep females from breaking the door and entering without being invited by me. If they do, then they're buy a new one of equal quality and durability or better!

Once the hinges and door were switched out for better quality items, then came the installation of the locks meant to serve as additional deterrents, four separate methods in fact! The first, was of course the doorknob and the lock built in, which requires a key; but I don't entirely trust that will be enough to protect myself. So, installing more locking mechanisms to bolster my defense of this sanctuary is the way to go! The first addition is a surface mounted deadbolt, and a good quality one too, and as the door was paid for by me, I can do whatever the hell I wish to do to it. Meaning I attached the deadbolt to door with chromium steel inch thick screws… I repair or replace the doorframe at the end of the semester if someone manages to rip these bolt out of the wall and frame! The deadbolt was of the vertical deadbolt type as I believed that would fulfill the purpose the best and the lock was mounted two inches above the doorknob. The next element of my new defenses and deterrents, was a door chain, also out of steel; however, as Chromium steel isn't cheap, I went with normal steel for the door chain. The chain and its mountings were a little above the surface mounted deadbolt. The last addition was a thick bolt on the lower half of the door that slid in and out of place and didn't require a key. You can call me paranoid with the lengths I'm going to, in my defense against the girls who would do questionable things; I consider it being prepared to the best of my abilities and planning I can come up with!

The next improvement the gang and I got to, involved the bathroom; not to say the room wasn't up to a creditable standard, but I have ideas to make it better than an average dorm bathroom. For example, the shower can be a much better thing, it was equipped with your run of the mill basic shower head; I tossed that into the cabinet under the sink and put on the duel shower heads connection to the pipe in the wall the previous shower head had been connected to. The said water pumping system, had one-foot-long pipe that attaches to the water pipe from in the wall and then splits at the other end into a U pipe. On either side of that U pipe, was six-inch-long fan water spouts, which put out a good stream combined. I had a feeling I would need this for the long hard days that were bound to come soon enough. With the Kitchen, I took out the refrigerator and put in the biggest I could fit; needed the increased space for storage if the time should come I'm hold up in here and under siege.

Finally, the last thing we did was rig up an antenna in the corner opposite of Houki's bed before she moved out. It even had a small dish setup to receive the incoming signal; it should help increase the internet signal I get and that would assist me when it comes to school work. The dish was set right in front of the balcony door, for the reason of having less in the way of the incoming signal being received. After getting the signal booster finished, I hooked it up to my computer terminal and checked the results and was pleased. Thanking my friends for their help, they left and went back to the house.

In the evening, there came a knock at the door… This seems to be becoming a running theme for me lately. I went to the door and unlocked it, which takes a little longer now; and Chifuyu stood there in front of me. "Chifuyu… Wasn't expecting you; what can I do for you this evening?" I asked her, gesturing her to come into my room.

Chifuyu stepped into the dorm room; she took a moment to look around the room. I could tell she was taking note of the makeshift antenna and original door against the wall on the far side of the second bed. She turned and gazed at the door and the multiple locks that were screwed to the door and doorframe. "I see you've been busy changing things today. Planning for a long term stay in this room in the future are you Sai?" Commented Chifuyu.

"Well, as this room can and will serve as a sanctuary and safe haven for me, yes. So, might as well make this room more accommodating for me and long term living in. Plus, as it happens, Tatenashi Sarashiki the student council president said it would be fine and to keep the original things I'm switching out, so that it can be put back." I shot back, "So, what brings you here this evening?"

I kept my gaze on Chifuyu, she sighed, "The reason that I'm here has to do with the unknown IS last week during the inter class league matches." Began Chifuyu.

Oh dear, that premise infers that this has to do with the 'core' I handed over… after some minor information manipulation I did. Chifuyu was one of the very select few that know the truth of the creation of the Infinite Stratos, and so, knew some of the skills I don't show off in public! She would likely connect the dots and come to the conclusion of my data alterations; Chifuyu just unlikely knew what pieces of data that I changed. I put on my best poker face and looked like I hadn't a care in the world, "Okay, what about that hunk of scrap metal?" I asked.

The gaze that Chifuyu had been pinning me with, turned into a frosty glare, "After you, as you so aptly put it, 'made it into scrap metal', bringing back the core and handing it over, it was examined." She continued.

Ah ha, she's baiting me, it won't work, "Is that so? Find anything interesting from that examination?" I asked evenly.

The frosty glare intensified, "Funny you should ask, the IS core is unregistered so would have little way to identify where it came from; but the few pieces of data that would say anything of where it had been weren't there, which all cores have built into them… but you would know that Sai. It was like it was fresh built core… you wouldn't know how that would be the case, would you Sai?" Chifuyu had gotten to be in my face now.

I was having a hard time keeping my cool under my adopted sister's penetrating glare, "Now Chifuyu, why would I…" I started, however, Chifuyu cut me off.

"You had the time and opportunity, you have the skills and knowhow to remove that data and do so in a way that wouldn't be noticed by even the closest examination! The core is too clean! You are the only one around here that can do that task so well; what I can't figure out is why you would do so!" Stated Chifuyu firmly.

Attempting to make some space from my interrogator, but she moved forward so that the distance between us stayed the same. "Oh come on Chifuyu, that's circumstantial accusation. Just because I have the skills and the knowhow; plus, the time doesn't mean I did anything to that core. What difference does the identifying data make, the unit was blown to kingdom come and the core is dissected?" I said with finality.

"That's not how things work here Taichi!" Snapped Chifuyu.

I began to be irked at how much Chifuyu was pressing this. "You know Chifuyu, as I recall; you have no business knowing what I do or why anymore. … You know what, fine; the truth is you're right. I did some data alterations and even removed some data, yet it doesn't matter what I did or why. And don't use that we're family to force me to tell you more. You pretty much gave the right to know what I do up years ago and as you haven't so much as called me or wrote me a single letter in three years Chifuyu, you have no right. I see no reason to answer your implied accusation. What information isn't there doesn't matter as it doesn't provide a threat to anyone here, period." I shot back to the woman.

There was a slight pause, "Is that what you tell yourself with the 'Phantom file' you had access to, so that you can sleep at night?" Said Chifuyu in a low voice.

It was like a sharp knife was being shoved into my heart and being twisted. That one-line hurt, for it had haunted me for the last three years; since I have asked myself if the file that Chifuyu mentioned and the information that it had contained, if the data in it could have made a difference… perhaps saved Ichika from dying. I began to shake with contained fury as Chifuyu and I had an unspoken agreement not to dwell on what ifs with the events that led to Ichika's death or bring up things that placed blame on the other… Ichika wouldn't have wanted us to do that to one another. My head fell slightly so that shadows covered my face, "That's low… Chifuyu… really low to use Ichika to get me to tell you things. Need I remind you that you knew where Ichika was hours before you traveled there and so, failed to save him. Never… have I placed blame on you for what happened to Ichika. I would've thought you would give me the same curtesy… as one who's close as a brother at one time." I paused and took a shuttering breath and continued, "Fine, since you are so insistent _Miss Orimura_ ; who do we both know, who has the skills to pull off what happened in the IS arena? A stupid metal eared bunny and a blonde porcelain life-size doll both come to mind! You do the thinking and figure out between those two, which I would be more willing to be nice to."

After saying that I pointed at the door, "Now, if you please… professor, get out! I'm in a bad mood thanks to you. Do you really think I don't wish Ichika was still alive? … I miss him as much as you, don't ever forget that! Hell, were he still around, he could have even been my roommate right now, but we'll never know, now will we?" I finished coldly.

Chifuyu left the room, but it was clear that both of us had said things that were hurtful to the other. Going and locking the door; I flopped down onto my bed in a foul mood, with the subject matter of Chifuyu's and my conversation still fresh in my mind. I had said things I already am starting to regret and would bug me until I apologize to Chifuyu. Laying down and trying to fall to sleep, yet my mind was still working and the gears were still turning, so sleep didn't come to me easily and didn't come without tears. The reminder of the loss of Ichika still affects me in a way little else does.

 **Chapter end!**

French to English translation

Sai: "Um… you okay Miss Dunois? If you calm down then, perhaps I could help you."

Charlotte: "You understand me and can speak French?"

Sai: "Yes, yes indeed I can Miss Dunois; now, what seems to be troubling you, if I might inquire?"

Charlotte: "Well, I don't know anyone here yet and so I am lost. I was going to the cafeteria to get some food for lunch but…"

Sai: "Well… What would you say to joining me for lunch; I remember the feeling of being new here. So, what do you say, Miss Dunois?"

Charlotte: "You… You really wouldn't mind?!"

Sai: "Of course not."

 **A/n**

 **And that's where I'll leave off with this chapter. This one developed into a longer chapter than I thought it would be during the first stage of writing this, which is my outlining the chapter contents. Please take the time to write a review and say what you think of this story thus far. Peace out until the next chapter.**


	8. The Calm Before the Storm

**A/n**

 **Okie dokie! Here is Chapter 8, a bit of a transition filler for what is to come, but there is a need for such things. I have also updated my listing of characters in my profile to now include the ones from this story that I came up with. Nothing more to say from me, On with the story!**

Chapter 8

The Calm Before the Storm

A week had gone by since the Saturday I had put in the new defenses in my room. Normally on a Sunday like today, I would take it easy. You know, kick back relax, take a load off and most importantly, rejuvenate my sanity and nerves from the beating they took during the week. However, with the individual tournament coming up in a little over two weeks from tomorrow, such luxuries had to be foregone. The time was going to fly by and I knew it and there were still things for me to do to be ready for tournament. I needed serious data for adjustments to my unit with only two more Saturdays to get for working time. And then I just need practice in general; granted I hadn't lost any of the matches here at the IS academy, but I've never had anyone out to kill me if they can. Laura Bodewig, I believe fully intended to kill me should she get the chance, at least if the look of hatred and loathing she sent my way when she saw me was anything to judge by. She had definitely made it clear that she detested me and would love to prove through physical means that she's better than me.

So, that's the reason that I'm out in the IS arena on a Sunday morning, the time being eleven-o-clock. I had been practicing for around an hour by this time and it had gone decently, would be going better if I had an opponent to work with, but beggars can't be choosers as the saying goes. With the second morning class period now a free period, most days, students use the time to practice; I use it for that, but mostly for school work and catching up on said work lately. To be fair for today, I had discovered out the targeting system needed a little tweaking for better accuracy, so the hour wasn't lost.

"Sai." Said a female voice.

I turned at hearing my name and found Charlotte Dunois with her IS deployed standing meters from me. Her unit was a variation of the Rafale Revive, the same model that Miss Yamada had used before and to my understanding, the teachers and top students use when trouble comes up. The major difference between the basic version and Charlotte's was the color as far as first impressions go, hers was orange, not green. Then the restraint system was a little sounder in my opinion than the basic model that Miss Yamada used before in demonstrations; it was more shaped and designed like armor. And then there was only one shield and it wasn't over the shoulders, but went over her left arm. Finally, over her shoulders was one wing each that were above the two wings that sat at her mid-back on either side.

"Hey Charlotte, out to practice for the upcoming Individual tournament as well then?" I asked politely.

She smiled, "Oui, with only two weeks from tomorrow until they start, need to keep one's skills sharp no?"

Well, perhaps this is an answer to my unsaid request for an opponent to train with… I'll take it if the offer is being extended! I gave a half smile to Charlotte, "Is that an offer to a practice match Charlotte?" I asked.

"If you are interested, then yes." Was the reply from her.

I was more than just interested; I'm pumped for this! "You're on Charlotte!"

The match began right then and there with a '3 2 1 go', with the two of us rushing forward at each other. Reaching for a beam saber in my left hand and when I got close enough, I swung at Charlotte, yet she blocked me with a short combat knife. Pushing forward with the sound of creaking being audible, we ended out force one another back from our clash. Immediately Charlotte brought out a machine gun and started firing at me. I raised my right arm and activated my right light shield and intercepted the rounds. Both of us took to the air and I saw slightly too late, Charlotte bring out an assault rifle and start shooting at me. My shield energy dropped a bit with the shot I just took… I have to admit, Charlotte is pretty good and that makes this all the more fun!

Over the next five minutes I ascertain that Charlotte was a natural with not just using an IS, but is also fairly competent with tactics. She did manage to hit me with a few more shots while we were in the air. I picked up speed coming around to be behind Charlotte; and I brought out my railguns and fired. The projectiles made contact with Charlotte and she dropped a distance, but caught herself and stabilized her machine. Whipping out one of my beam rifles took aim and set bolts every couple of seconds at Charlotte. Within minutes Charlotte's shield energy hit zero and the match was over.

The other girls who were also in the arena, were ooing and awing at the match between Charlotte and me. … I swear, these girls here are easy to impress and their reactions were getting more than just tiresome. I dismissed the arm sections and wing apparatus for the time being. My attention was drawn back when the mutterings of the girls here changed and I heard two particular lines.

"Hey isn't that the new transfer student?"

"Then that must be the German third generation IS."

Those two lines hooked my mind and forced me to turn to see girls looking upward towards one of the launch catapults. Glancing in that direction, I spotted none other than my standing problem, Laura Bodewig in her IS. The German girl was wearing a grey version of the swimsuit like pilot suit that most of the girls wear at this school for using a IS. I had wondered how long it would be before she and I were in this arena, now the only question, when the fight would start. And speaking of her unit, it was completely black in color, fairly basic in shape and design. The notable features, were two wing shaped pieces attached to the back frame and the shoulder apparatus. The shoulders, where normally the main weapon or advantage of an IS tends to be; wasn't much as far as I could see at the moment. However, from designing and building my unit; you learn not to take first looks as all there is. There is a reason that there is the phrase, "looks can be deceiving"!

The one other thing I studied for a full ten seconds, was the cannon that was mounted to the right shoulder apparatus… I estimated it at an 80 caliber. Why might I note this? Because it was the same design of a prototype railgun, one I had seen last year in fact. It had been at Cornell, a German scientist who was visiting during a convention, had been showing off the blueprints for the cannon. Apparently, Germany's IS developers decided to work with it; not to say it couldn't be call a railgun by the characteristics, Olivia's design is just more efficient. Miss Bodewig didn't take long to spot me, turning to face me. "So, you have your own personal machine; that makes things much easier. Now fight me!" demanded Miss Bodewig.

She's a real hot head, Bodewig. Yet, I wasn't interested in having a skirmish with the girl right now. She was a road to trouble and I wasn't going to get dragged down it by her! It was clear she had an issue with me from the day we met and she just came over and slapped me. For whatever reason she had, it didn't matter to me as I had nothing against her at the moment. However, as she is so insistence, it was obvious, she wouldn't take no for an answer; with the individual tournament coming up, this issue can wait and will be settled then. Perhaps by that time, Miss Bodewig would calm down enough to think with a clear head. With the state she was in right now, she was a danger to everyone here and to herself. She couldn't think clearly as she was too focused going after my head and so, as a result. I would in the end of this, likely have to put her down. "I have no reason at this time to fight you Miss Bodewig, the individual tournament is in a few weeks; we can settle your issue then." I said.

Miss Bodewig didn't take my answer well, "You may not have a reason, but I do!" Bellowed Bodewig with an expression of hatred directed at me.

In return, I gave her a cold glare that Chifuyu would be proud of, "Then I recommend you keep your reason to yourself until the individual tournament and contain your interest in having a go at me under control." I returned firmly.

"Nein!" shouted Miss Bodewig as a reply.

The long cannon on Bodewig's IS came to bear on me; I redeploy my unit's arms, ready to use a light shield to block the shot that was going to no doubt come. A boom sounded and a flash was seen from the barrel of the railgun; the next thing I register, Charlotte was in front of me and used her shield Over her left arm to deflect the round from Bodewig. I just stared at the girl in front of me, "Charlotte…" I muttered in surprise.

"I can't believe she just fired at you like that; but then, Germans get hot and bothered rather easily!" She said bringing her sniper rifle and assault rifle to aim at Laura Bodewig.

Miss Bodewig, bridled at the insult, "How dare you stand in my way with that second generation French machine!" Snapped back the German girl.

"A French unit that performs much better than your German third generation IS, which has no prospects of being mass produced anytime in the near future!" Shot Charlotte in reply.

As fascinating as this shouting match is; feels kind of awkward as I'm the subject they're arguing about. Granted, I'm not dumb, I have seen and realized that Bodewig hates me and likely wants to get rid of me, which I won't just let her do. I appreciate Charlotte standing up for me, though I don't need it; but this is my issue to deal with and I don't like others doing that for me. This has to stop before it goes farther than this and shots begin to fly. "Enough ladies!" I yelled As I got between the two females.

I turned to Charlotte, "Thanks for your concern Charlotte, but I had the situation under control, so your intervention isn't necessary."

After saying that, I turned back to face Laura Bodewig, "As for you missy, as I stated before; this will be settle later and not now! If you can't accept that, then you can face the teachers, who I wouldn't doubt would be more than willing to help you cool off and see the reasoning for settling this later!" I remarked to her with finality.

As if what I said was a cue, there came a voice out of the PA system, "First year students, what do you think you're doing?! Disarm and disburse immediately!"

I gave Miss Bodewig a knowing smile, but I might as well have taunted her by saying 'I told you so' for it had the same effect. She Gave me a glare full of hatred before she shed her unit and left the arena and the rest of the girls with the exception of the trio and Charlotte left as well. The trio approached me and began questioning me as to why Miss Bodewig was so intent to fight me. As I don't have a freaking clue why she was so interested in me, I said as much to the girls before I left the arena. The rest of Sunday was fairly uneventful and passed without further incident as I stayed in my room to do school work. It wasn't really until Monday evening while I was heading back to the dorm building after grabbing dinner that an event of note happened. I was minding my own business and was thinking on the material from my two lectures from the afternoon. However, at hearing voices I came to a halt, and got out of sight, somewhat curious as two meeting at this time of day and out of the main stream of traffic… makes me wonder.

"Please answer me Mentor, why would you waste your time in a place such as this?!"

That voice was unmistakable, that was the voice of Laura Bodewig; no way I can mistake that. I silently slipped behind a tree and strained my ears to catch what was being said and by whom. Who knows, I just might acquire more information that could tell me Laura Bodewig's beef with me. "Don't make me repeat myself, I have my reasons to be here, that's enough said." Said the voice of Chifuyu, which made sense as the only one that Miss Bodewig calls 'Mentor', is Chifuyu.

I had already suspected that there was a connection between Chifuyu and Miss Bodewig, but this is the first I've seen or heard details. Chifuyu hasn't really mentioned much about her time in Germany, but then we really haven't talked much since Ichika's funeral… didn't really speak to each other at the funeral either now that I think about it. We had been grieving in our own ways upon Ichika's death, for the event had affected us both in similar and different ways. It is the reason she spent time in Germany, to repay them for the help they gave in getting the information that led to Ichika's location.

"What possible reasons could you have to be in this place that is mistakenly called a school?! I'm begging you Mentor, please return to Germany and teach us there once more. Your talents and experience are not put to a fraction of their worth here!" Laura retorted.

Doesn't think much of the academy, though I don't think much of it either, yet I don't think that low of this place, but I keep that opinion to myself due to good manners. However, an example of how manners are something men still have, which women don't necessarily possess these days. Ever since the Infinite Stratos, women have used less manners when addressing others, to males specifically but to one another somewhat as well. Hence, the point that women looking down on men these days.

"The female students here in this place do not understand what the world is like; something a person like you can teach wonderfully, but none here pay heed. They lack a sense of danger and come to view the IS as nothing more than a trinket or fashion accessory. And then there is that male student, he should never have even been allowed near here; he is a sham, a pretender and only to get attention!"

… Hmm, the plot thickens; the respect she shows for Chifuyu is close to worship, then compared to what she thinks of the students here, explains a good amount. Not saying that Bodewig doesn't have a point of some girls not understanding the danger that the IS can be, they have become weapons after all with their development. And then, her opinion of me… to say it's low, would be an understatement; I knew she thought rather low of me, the impression that she thinks little of me has been hard to miss. Yet, to consider me a sham and a pretender, to not be allowed here; that's bordering on egotistical of her. Hell, if I wasn't being blackmailed by that dumb bunny, I wouldn't be here at all! I would be at Cornell and would have preferred to be there, rather than here in the first place, but silly me, a dumb metal eared perverted bunny had other ideas for me and won't leave me alone! I swear she gets her kicks watching me go through hell! I don't want the attention I get here, I hate being the center of attention!

"It is a testament of your patience that you even tolerate this attitude; but please Mentor, this place is not worth your time." Said Bodewig in effort to convince Chifuyu of what she was saying.

What Laura Bodewig doesn't seem to understand, is Chifuyu Orimura doesn't let what others say, sway her opinion or decisions. A fact I've learned in the years I have known Chifuyu, even when I was a part of the Orimura family, which included Ichika and Chifuyu herself. "I've heard quite enough, little girl. You may have grown up physically somewhat; but mentally, you're still a child that has much to learn." Replied Chifuyu.

And so Chifuyu shuts down Bodewig, totally agree with Chifuyu's view of Miss Bodewig, a child indeed she is.

"I was…" Started Bodewig.

"I'm busy and you should be getting back to the dorms, now off you go." Cut off Chifuyu.

I heard Miss Bodewig run off. Must admit, an informative conversation I just listen to. And yet… with time to think about my current position… it would likely be a good idea for me to leave before…

"Male student over there behind the tree, were you eavesdropping on a conversation that didn't concern you; or indulging in some aberrant sexual behavior?" Called Chifuyu.

... Too late, she knew I was here. I came from out behind the tree I had been listening from and faced Chifuyu. "Okay, as I'm the only male student, you might as well just call me out by name Chifuyu. And Eavesdropping… you really would accuse me of such? You're well aware that should I wish to hear a conversation; I don't need to be there in person and can do so without being caught." I paused, took a breath and continued, "After all, lest you forget, I learned things from a metal eared rabbit who's a pervert with VERY strange fetishes. Then there is the life size porcelain doll that can seemingly appear out of nowhere and give you a heart attack. Those two taught me just how to obtain information… legally, illegally and just plain wrong methods of doing so. And it's also due to the two previously mentioned women, that I have little interest and tend to be disgusted by sexual behavior… I mean, did you know that the hasenpfeffer has a large collection of panties from who knows where, and is more than willing to show me them and even let me borrow some for whatever reason I could come up with. Then the doll… actually, I would rather not talk about what she had on the subject of sexual things… it's just wrong!"

Chifuyu sighed at my explanation, ou being a male likely has something to do with as Chifuyu would be the most likely to know the answer, l uncomfortable. "Sai, what are you doing here right now?"

"Technically speaking, I was heading towards the dorm and just happened to overhear the conversation; you two weren't being very quiet or discreet to say the least." I replied.

There was silence between the two of us, it felt similar to what we had when we parted ways last night and it was still uncomfortable. I broke the ice, "Chifuyu… I want to say that I'm sorry about what I said last night. I didn't mean what I said; I was… Frustrated. Girls here have been viewing and treating me like I'm some kind of pet or object to claim for themselves. You of all people know how much I dislike to be seen that way… Especially after what, the bunny and doll would do to me." 

"I think we both said things that we didn't mean, so I'm sorry as well." Answered Chifuyu.

I nodded, "Yes, we did; I'll forgive you if you forgive me, sound fair?" I asked.

She nodded; I then had a thought and decided to ask the question as Chifuyu would be the most likely to know the answer, "Chifuyu, you have any idea as to the reason as to why Laura Bodewig has to want to… Well make me disappear, to put it nicely?"

"You being a male likely has something to do with it. Although, I think there is more to the issue than that, but I can't figure out what it is." Commented Chifuyu.

-Scene Change-

I leaned back in the chair at the desk; having just finished the school work that was due on Wednesday for Quantum physics. I had done the work for Calculus before that; so, by what I can figure, I'm caught up and am where I should be when it comes to class work and material for my college courses for the time being. It had taken a lot of work and shutting myself in this room for evenings for most days in the week which hopefully will change to an hour or two an evening and not the whole thing. Originally, I had thought that I would be able to keep up with my college work here in Japan, but that had been proving difficult thus far. Namely, due to the girls in my class and others who are first years, taking up the majority of my free time. Sure, they don't know that I'm doing more than twice the work they are doing when it comes to an education or the difference between the levels of education we are at; and that's between noting and planning the adjustments to my unit. Ah… the challenge that is time management for me, again, this is going to be a long semester.

There came a knock at the door as I put away my books, papers and suspending my computer terminal; before I rose and went to the door. I unlocked the door and when I opened it, there stood Charlotte Dunois. "Hello Charlotte, what can I do for you this evening?"

"Well, I was hoping to talk to you about something Sai; if this isn't a good time, I can come back later." Charlotte said.

I shook my head, "No, actually I just finished what I was doing, so I'm free. Please come in then." I replied moving aside and gesturing her to enter.

Charlotte came in to my room and I closed the door; she sat on the bed that had been Houki's. I sat down on my bed and looked over at her, waiting for her to speak. When she didn't I made the decision to prompt her, "So, you said you wanted to tell me something, what would that be?" I asked.

"My reasons for coming her to the IS academy… For they have to do with you." She answered me.

Okay, I don't exactly know what to say to that or what to think. Yes, for many girls, me being here has made a difference to them, in what ways are still not completely clear yet. I said nothing, but listened to Charlotte.

"You see, I'm here because my father ordered me to come here." Charlotte began.

Her father? Wouldn't that be the CEO of the Dunois corporation? "The president of the Dunois corporation?" I questioned.

Charlotte smiled halfheartedly, "Yes, that's correct. I really have little choice, as the consequences of not doing so are… well, not pleasant to say it mildly."

Really? Not that I wouldn't fully understand a parent providing unpleasant consequences, I had a solid six months when I was younger of experiencing such things from my male sire… my back is a testament to the point. But it's unlikely she would be facing what I had… But it's not impossible, "Why is that?" I inquired.

"Well, to tell the truth; I am not the child of my father's lawful wife." She said, "I grew up and was raised by my mother and never knew my father."

Okay, first of all, why is she telling me this at all? Am I really seen to be so trustworthy to others? Back to the subject of discussion, rather harsh; bad enough to have a parent that acts like a ba****d; I long ago stopped thinking of the man that was my male sire as a parent for the reason. Yet, to have an actual ba****d who sleeps around… Surprised that the Mrs. Hasn't divorced the man already. Then the sadder thing still, the ones who are hurt the most, aren't the one that cause the problem, but the ones who are just unlucky enough to be related to the one that did start the mess.

"It was two years ago that I even knew who he was, my maman would talk about him, but never mention him by name. When my maman died, my father took me in; or rather, people from the Dunois family came and picked me up." Charlotte continued.

Picked up, out of a sense of guilt or responsibility? Or something else altogether that I'm not seeing? … Perhaps expecting such action from people isn't nice of me, but it has been proven to me far more often that people do things for such reasons rather than being noble. I listened intently even as I thought about the possible reasons that could have gotten Charlotte involved in the mess she was describing to me.

"Some tests were run not too long after that and it was discovered that I was not just compatible with the IS, but exceptionally so. With that information confirmed; unofficially, I was made a test pilot for the Dunois corporation, very few outside the developers knew who I was." Charlotte kept going, and her head was making its way downward as she spoke, "The thing is, I have only seen or even been in the same room with my father twice in my life and I… have only spoke to him, for no more than an hour between those two times. So, I really don't know my father as a person, more by his reputation."

This story is getting more tragic the more I hear of it. She has been used by those who can be called family and yet even knowing this, Charlotte hasn't complained about it. An amazing young woman to be sure; I've met a number of people throughout my life, all of them different in various ways. However, people such as Charlotte are rare.

"Then, not too long after development of the third generation IS began; came financial trouble for the company." She continued.

It happens to some with each generation that passes in the development of ISs; their all trying to keep up with the troublesome rabbit, the life sized doll… And myself, the creators and designers of the IS to begin with. So, I do play a part in this, though none know this as I have decided to live a 'normal life' which the bunny and doll haven't lived. I spoke up confirming what I knew, "It was my understanding that Dunois Corporation, though not the top developer, wasn't doing that badly as of yet."

Charlotte shook her head, "That's what those outside the company would think and there have been things done to portray that picture. However, even with the Revive selling like it is now, it is only a matter of time before those sales drop off and demands for a third generation become too much to ignore. It is likely that reason, which Miss Cecilia and Miss Laura are here, for test data." She answered.

I nodded in understanding; it was the one reason I justified being here at all, testing for data and adjusting my unit to enhance the performance.

"The Dunois corporation has begun development, yet progress has been slow and if that does not change within a reasonable amount of time, then Dunois's development permit will be taken away." Charlotte said.

It is easy to see where she's coming from, but there is a point in this I don't exactly comprehend, so I asked. "How do I fit into this exactly; I mean sure, I'm the one male right now, but that can't be the only reason, is it?"

She didn't look me in the eye when she answered my inquiry, "I'm ashamed to say the you are right; you being a male is not the whole reason. Coming to this academy when it was found out that you would be here, gave a chance of meeting you. The intention was to collect information and data on your unit, which is currently unknown to any in the world as far as is known. The one recorded performance… was of extreme interest as it out performed even experimental data of any third generation. And then… data on you as well, to help with research and development." She said quietly.

It isn't like it would be the first time that someone had tried to steal from me, whether it was data or something else. Heck, I'm dead certain that the bunny and the doll have tried to steal data from me, though I can't prove it. Nonetheless… I've done the same to them, it's kind of a normal form of competition between the three of us… unspoken at least. By the sound of it, Charlotte hadn't been wanting to do this, but hadn't been given the choice.

Charlotte spoke again, "The idea was to steal data on your machine and you to advance research… I'm sorry that I deceived you Sai. You are nothing like what I had been led to believe you were by the information that I was given to study."

Just what kind of data did she get on me to read?! I wouldn't think there would be anything of much interest to anyone on me. Okay, maybe me graduating from high school at the age of eleven is something to note… But really, I have gone to great lengths to bury and erase evidence and records of my past and I did a thorough job, rest assured! There was no way anyone would be able to figure out that I was one of the three creators of the IS, when it is accepted fact, that the hasenpfeffer was solely responsible.

I held up a hand to tell Charlotte to stop talking so that I could answer, "Well first of all, you are certainly not the first to mistake me for someone that I'm not, believe me. Second, I can understand… what it's like to be used by another for their benefit; has happened to me before. So, don't sweat it; we can just start over."

Charlotte had an expression of shock at my reply to her, "Wait… you are not mad at me?"

"Why should I be mad at you Charlotte?" I asked.

"I lied to you, I was sent here to steal information on you! Those reasons alone should be enough." She shot back at me.

"… I'm lied to multiple times a day by many of the girls here, little white lies true, yet lies nonetheless; so, I'm used to it. And you would have extreme difficulty stealing information on my unit that would make sense to almost anyone else. My… IS is unique and custom built by myself and friends I trust; not even the most advanced development laboratory can understand how my unit works very much. So, I'm not that worried about you stealing anything of value; honestly, it has been a nice change to have you around me. Do you have any idea what it is like to have no one that you can talk to that will actually listen to what you say rather than what their imagining doing with me?!" I explained.

Charlotte appeared confused, "Huh?"

"You're the first girl that doesn't flirt with me at most opportunity, it is a welcome change." I commented flatly, "So, what do you plan to do now?"

"What am I…? Well, now that you know; I will likely be called back to France. Once there… I don't know what will become of me. If things work out and my father is feeling generous… sent to jail, or maybe to live out my life away from prying eyes… with little contact with the outside world." She said halfheartedly.

Charlotte is just going to give up? That seems… a real waste, if you ask me. Nevertheless, if that's what she wants, then I won't stop her. "If that's what you want, then go for it; but you could stay here as well you know."

The blonde stared at me, "What do you mean?"

"Technically, your father nor his company or France, can tell you what to do. In the manual of the Academy, there is a rule; 'All students at the IS academy are under its… umm, something… control, and no nation, organization, or other group can interfere with their attendance here' I believe it goes. Simply put, should you choose to stay, you have three years to come up with a way to not receive such a punishment." I quoted from what I had read from the academy manual… That had been a very boring read that 'book' thick school manual.

Charlotte giggled softly, "I'm surprised you even know that rule; I had forgotten it. There are over fifty rules in the manual to remember." She remarked.

"Fifty-five to be exact, for the number of rules. I have a good memory and study hard." I said nonchalantly.

She smiled warmly at me, "Sai, thank you; you are sweet."

I waved a hand in dismissal, "It's not that big of a deal. So anyway, have you had dinner yet?"

"Uh… no, I have not." She replied.

I rose up from the bed, "Well, I'm going to get some now that I'm finished with stuff I was working on, you interested in tagging along?" I said taking a step and turning to the door.

Charlotte caught up with me before I got to the door, I opened it and we stepped out next to each other. Was not even five feet out the door, when into view came Cecilia and Houki… And so, trouble rears it unwelcome and ugly head once again. "Evening girls, what might you be doing here at this time?" I asked politely.

Cecilia was the first to answer me, "Oh well… As I didn't see you at dinner, I assumed that you hadn't had it yet, so… Maybe we could go together." She said with a slight smile.

Sure, I'll just bet that's the only reason you have for being here, and trying to get me alone and to yourself has absolutely nothing to do with this at all! Do the female students here really believe I'm so dim and dumb not to see their poor attempts to 'claim' me as their own… pet or toy… something along those lines?! This is just grating on my nerves! Then there was Houki, I would like to think she's here to stop Cecilia from doing what she wants, but I would doubt that Houki would refuse a chance to be alone with me either. I was snapped out of my thought processes, by both of my arms being grabbed by a pair of hands and I, being dragged forward. On my right arm was Houki with a determined look and on my left was Cecilia with an expression of persistence. I naturally struggled against the hold I was in, "Girls, I'm fully able to walk on my own and so, don't need to be dragged; now get off me!" I said with contained annoyance.

Cecilia glared at me, "Now Sai, you should be happy that you are escorting a lady, not complaining." She replied.

I returned the glare, "Funny, because the view of I'm d**ned to right now, I'm the one being escorted in this situation and I'm not happy about it as it's being forced upon me." I shot back.

In the end, they still dragged me to the cafeteria and continued their contest over me throughout the meal. I managed to whisper a goodbye to Charlotte and slip away; almost got to the door, but then was noticed. Not wanting to go through being fought over, I sprinted back to my room and fully locked the door with all the locks. Sliding down the door and looking up at the ceiling, thought about what I would do to that metal eared bunny when I find her, for putting me into and through this HELL! It was thoughts like that going through my mind and did give me some comfort. After a few minutes I decided to just go turn in, I took a hot shower to sooth my tired muscles and headed for bed; was out within minutes.

-Scene Change-

Two weeks had gone by fairly quickly; again, I was planning to practice now that the tournament started a week from today as it was Monday, it was crunch time! Classes in the morning was cut down to just the one on information about IS. That left time that would have been used for practical training supervised by Chifuyu, was now open for uses and we were encouraged to use that time for practice for the upcoming tournament. Cassidy had managed to get permission to work at Asake IS R&D this Saturday, which was cutting a little close, but it couldn't be helped.

At the start of this week, the first morning class occurred as usual but the practical training was now an open period. So after Tuesday's morning class, I was over and I was heading over to the arena to get some last minute data for the final adjustments this weekend. On my way, I bumped into Houki who fell into step with me and walked with me as I continued to the arena. She was talking about the possible fights that would be of extreme interest that would happened. We passed Charlotte and she joined us, and participated in the conversation on the more difficult participants in the first years to take on. Laura Bodewig did come up in that, along with me in the category of difficult opponents in first years.

The three of us reached the intersection; going straight forward, you would enter the spectators' stands, to the right was the locker room and to the left was the stairway up to the operation room. I was starting to turn towards the locker room as was Charlotte, when the sound of an explosion came from up ahead. All three of us, raced forward up the stairs heading into the stands.

The sight that met my eyes was one that, didn't specifically horrify me, as much as it sickened me. Laura Bodewig, was out in the arena along with Cecilia and Rin and that was the battle standing; Bodewig verses Cecilia and Rin. And by what I was seeing, Cecilia and Rin were losing… Actually, to be frank, Bodewig was pretty much wiping the floor with them. Granted, Cecilia and Rin don't work well together as a team, but what Bodewig was doing… Went beyond the bounds of a practice match! She was whipping them and taking pleasure in doing so; she was bullying them, no other way to say it!

As I looked on, rage boiled up in me; I've never cared or liked bullies, have had to deal with more than my fair share of them. It comes with being years younger than those you're around, you get seen as the easy target to pick on, hence why I started learning martial arts. High school had been the worst and memories from those times were flooding back to me at this moment. Let me tell you, it was at the high school level which I learned that being different, specifically years younger than everyone else around you, makes you a target of bullying. The captain of the football team had taken pleasure in particular, bullying me; like it was his job or calling to make things bad for me. The teachers had been no help to me, captain jock could do no wrong; leader of the football team that would go to state every year, had good grades… so I had to fend for myself. Nevertheless, it was as I watched Laura Bodewig toy with Rin and Cecilia as she beat the crap out of them, which reminded me of what I had experienced.

"Sai… you need to keep calm; you're not looking too good at the moment." Said Charlotte.

I was trying to keep my cool, but just having to watch Bodewig bully the girls and enjoying it, irked me in a way I couldn't ignore. The sound of an explosion caught our attention; out on the field Cecilia had just fired off missiles at Bodewig at close range. However, as the smoke cleared, Miss Bodewig was plainly unharmed, due to her unit having a piece of equipment called an Active Inertia Canceller, which had blocked the missiles and explosion.

"What the?!" Came the voice of Houki.

"She has an AIC!" Said Charlotte.

"So then…" Started Houki.

"Firing at her doesn't work the same." Answered Charlotte.

Houki didn't seem to understand what Charlotte had said, so I added my bit of an explanation, "In other words, the field projected is able to block or rather stop incoming shots, projectiles, or objects as long as the pilot is focused on it." I commented, to which the two girls stared at me in shock, "Yes, I'm aware of how the piece of equipment and system works."

Over the next few minutes, it became much harder to contain my fury and hold myself from ripping Laura Bodewig a new one! Hell, she could very well be goading me into a fight with her and she was doing fairly good job at it! I was getting made and was losing control of myself. It was when Rin and Cecilia had cables wrapped around their necks and being lifted off the ground, when my control snapped completely!

"If the mandatory unlock activates with the state of damage their units have and are taking, then it could kill them!" Houki commented sounding very worried.

I ground my teeth, "Enough is enough! That B***h wants a fight from me, then she's got one now d**n it! I'll put her into the infirmary for the next week so that she'll have more sh*t to worry about that the individual tournament won't be near the top of the d**n list!" I muttered.

The deployment of my unit occurred in a flash, taking out my beam sabers and igniting them I took a step towards the barrier shield. I heard Houki shout at me not to go out, but well… I was in no mood to listen; I was focused on Laura Bodewig and the beating I would be giving her that she wouldn't soon forget! I sliced my sabers upward in a X motion and rushed forward at the barrier, the loud shattering crash echoed as I broke through. At the sound of the Shield barrier being smashed Bodewig turned and when she saw me smiled. Hitting the ground and hearing the screeching of the wheels running against the ground, I leaned forward and the wheels obtained traction and I sped ahead. The German tossed Rin and Cecilia to the side and shot towards me. Activating a beam saber on either arm she leapt into the air, she let out a cry and brought the sabers down at me, to which I used my own beam sabers to block them.

"I will enjoy crushing you and proving to those here and to the world that you are nothing more than a joke!" snapped Bodewig.

I smirked maliciously back at her, "You know Bodewig, there's a reason why underestimating your opponent is such a bad thing. One would think you German's learned that from World War II." I said. The plate that the light shield emitters were on, split open horizontally and a total of four gun muzzles. There were two on each arm came out clicked, signaling that they were loaded and ready, "Your opponent just might have a hidden ace in the hole!" I retorted and I started unloading rounds in fast succession at the German girl.

With her pretty much on top of me, it was hard for me to miss and she can't deploy her AIC this close without taking a lot of damage to her energy shield first! Bodewig tried to move back, but I move forward and she was holding her arms in front of her face defensively. I mean, I was pumping a crap load of bullet sized energy projectiles at her; hadn't meant to introduce these hidden gatling guns until the individual tournament, but this will do just fine. These guns, each gun barrel can fire five rounds a second, three hundred rounds a minute… so combined, the unloading capacity is twelve hundred rounds a minute between the four barrels. So yeah, these babies can go the distance when it comes to getting my opponent to back of or just to pin them down.

However, Bodewig did after a minute and a half manage to deploy her AIC and did so with a look of triumph. Instantly, the barrage of bullets didn't hit her but stopped less than a foot in front of her, her AIC was doing exactly what it was designed to do. Yet that expression of surety disappeared as gun fire came from her right and make contact, Charlotte came into view and she was using her assault rifle and machine gun in sync to exploit the major flaw of the Active Inertia Canceller; its inability to be effectively used against multiple opponents. With Charlotte keeping Bodewig busy, I went over to where Bodewig had tossed Rin and Cecilia. Their ISs had safely disengaged by now and they were lying on the ground; I picked up one in each arm and carried them over to the side of the arena to put them out of harm's way. Rin and Cecilia were muttering their apologies to me for having to help them and saving them.

I looked back to the battle that was still happening and saw that Charlotte was having trouble. Bodewig had some kind of cable binding Charlotte's right arm that was coming from one of her unit's shoulder apparatus. So then, a dagger attached to a cable… That explains what those small orange cross shaped pieces on the top center of her shoulders. Even though Charlotte was using her machine gun to attempt to get the German to back off; Bodewig was using her AIC to block the weapon fire while pulling Charlotte towards herself.

At seeing this, memories flashed through my brain; the original IS unit I had test piloted… The Black Knight equipped with core zero. The machine had a similar weapon system as Bodewig's dagger and cable. The Black Knight … Had been similar to and different from Bodewig's unit; it had excelled at close range combat, but didn't rely on a singular defense, still haven't seen a machine that can match either original IS prototype. But… There had been several reasons that I don't like remembering that IS, though I'll never forget it either.

Refocusing, I moved forward with great speed, grabbing one of my beam sabers and getting behind Bodewig, who had forgotten about me and was focused on Charlotte. The German girl ignited her left arm saber and brought it down at Charlotte; I placed the beam saber in my right hand, so that when I were to ignite the saber, it would go across her neck. Before I could however, there was a clang; like she just appeared out of thin air, Chifuyu stood between Charlotte and Bodewig a long katana that was part of the preset of the Uchigane used in her hands stopping Miss Bodewig from striking Charlotte.

"Mentor…" Whispered Bodewig.

"This is one of the times that dealing with kids here, is a royal pain in the a**." Grumbled Chifuyu.

… Rare is it that Chifuyu cusses in front of others that don't know her on a personal level, means that she's very annoyed. And a very annoyed Chifuyu, is a woman that you don't want to mess with, even I know that and am not so stupid to test my luck in this.

Chifuyu continued, "To practice here with your IS is all well and good; but there is a problem when the shield barrier is broken. Now… stand down and disarm Bodewig." Said Chifuyu.

Decided that that was my cue to make my presence know. The hiss of energy from my beam saber being turned on was heard, followed by the quiet hum of it now stretching across Bodewig's neck. I then whispered to Bodewig, "Haven't forgotten about me, now did you Bodewig? You would do well to listen to Miss Orimura. Your 'powerful' AIC won't help you against my saber this close and your unit's energy barrier, will only prevent death and life threatening injuries, nothing else. Don't give me a reason to prove what I'm saying, stand down and disarm… Or else you'll become familiar with the infirmary, I promise you!"

There was silence for a little bit longer, but then there was a flash and Bodewig dropped to the ground with her face passing inches away from my saber. When she touched down, I deactivated my beam saber and stored it in its holster on the back of my hips. Chifuyu looked between Bodewig and myself, "You two will not fight each other, this will be settled during the Individual Tournament, is that clear?!" Demanded Chifuyu.

"Ja Mentor." Replied Miss Bodewig.

"Crystal clear ma'am." I returned.

With that now established, Miss Bodewig left the arena; I disarmed as well and dropped to the ground. I headed back to the locker room not talking to any of the girls who were asking questions of me. I was neither in the mood nor did I have a reason to answer any of them. This would be settled soon enough, no reason to let it affect me further.

-Scene Change-

I decided to go check on Rin and Cecilia; with the beating they took, they would be in not so nice condition. With what Bodewig did to them it was a miracle that they weren't hurt worse than they were. After talking to the academy female nurse, I was allowed to see them and when I went into the room, I got a complete view of the two girls' injuries. They were both covered in a great deal of bandages, were also still in their pilot suits and overall, worse for wear. Both Rin and Cecilia looked up and froze when they saw me; their cheeks turned slightly pink. I smiled slightly, "Nice to see you two awake and okay, you'll need time to fully recover from your injuries."

The door behind me opened again and glancing backward, I saw that it was Charlotte coming into the room. I focused my attention back on the two girls in the infirmary beds And took in a deep breath before I spoke, "Now a question for you two… why in the hell did you pick a fight with the German trouble maker Bodewig? If she didn't make it clear to you earlier, she's more than willing to do serious injury if not more. Especially, if the action can get her closer to getting to me, then it's a guarantee." I asked.

Rin and Cecilia mumbled unintelligible things I couldn't hear that didn't register in my brain sensibly, so it was like I hadn't got an answer at all. Obviously, whatever the reason was, it was embarrassing for them to say it out loud… With how things have been since I got here, the reason will have something to do with me. It was Charlotte's snickering that caught my consideration and turning to her, giving her a look to ask her what was so funny. She however, spoke to the girls, "No need to put on an act you two." She said.

I just stared at the three females, yet kept silent. Again, females are strange creatures… I'll likely never understand why the do things they do. "You do not need to be embarrassed about how you were defending Sai when Laura insulted him."

Wait what?! That's what this is all about; they're in beds in here because they were defending me from what Bodewig said about me?! These girls are ridiculous! I gave a cold glare to both Cecilia and Rin, "Ladies, I don't need anyone to defend myself or stand up for me. If Bodewig wishes to insult me, she's more than welcome to directly to my face, then I'll reply to her as I see fit. Now, let me be clear once again as apparently you haven't gotten the point in your minds; none of you, I repeat, none of you needs or should defend me! I'm fully capable of defending myself and standing up for myself." I stated firmly.

"But…" both started saying, but the growing rumble and the sound of many feet silenced the lot of us and drew our gazes to the door. Seconds later, the door burst open and a crowd of girls flooded into the room… Pretty much all of class 1. The girls surrounded me and all of them began talking to me and many were attempting to talk over one another. Thankfully, I can make my voice heard when I wanted to, "Girls, one at a time!" I shouted and my classmates quieted down for a moment.

"Now, what is all the hubbub about?" I asked.

"Look!" Said several of my classmates, holding out papers in front of my face.

I took one of the pieces of paper and took a closer look at it. It was an informative flier that said the following:

'For the upcoming Individual Tournament'

'So that accurate data and to obtain a fair view of participant's skills'

'The matches will be setup in the form of two member teams facing one another'

'Teams are to be formed before Friday or team members will be assigned by a random drawing'

Two member teams? That does fit, then one person can't just own everyone… Meaning it wouldn't just come down to me and Bodewig. … Hold on… Two member… uh oh, d**n it! Now the flood of girls makes sense; they want me at their partner. Popularity is a bi**t and is proven at times like this; I half smiled, "Um… Ladies…"

I didn't finish attempt to placate, as my classmates all started talking at once again, with lines like:

"You should partner up with me Taichi!"

"No, you should team up with me!"

"Please be my Partner Taichi!"

And many variations of those lines; this is getting frustrating in more ways than one. There really is only one way to settle this and be done with it; chose a teammate. Only one female currently in this room do I trust, not to take advantage of this. Plus, she has a reason to go against Miss Bodewig as I do. I held up my hands, "I'm very sorry girls, but I'll be partnering up with Charlotte Dunois. She and I work well together and as we both have an issue to settle with Miss Bodewig, it works out better for everyone." I said simply.

Most of the girls accepted my answer, some looked a little hurt, but still took what I said and they will have to deal with it. Apparently, the females are finally beginning to understand that I'm an independent agent and cannot and will not be coheres into a decision. My classmates filed out of the room, leaving the four of us who had originally there. I was turning towards Charlotte, when my arms were grabbed by a pair of arms each.

"Hey, you should be on my team!" Came from my right and looking that way I saw Rin clutching my right arm, with a determined expression on her face.

"No, Sai will be teaming up with me!" Shot from my left, and glancing in that direction, observed Cecilia holding onto my left arm, glaring at Rin.

As the two member of the trio began to argue over me like they normally do; I heard the door sliding open again, but with my arms pinned by Rin and Cecilia, I couldn't turn to see who it was that just entered the room.

"I'm afraid that you two will not be participating in the tournament." Said the voice of my sub-homeroom teacher, Miss Yamada.

The girls stopped arguing with each other and gazed behind me, "But ma'am, I can still fight just fine!" Snapped Rin

"Yes, myself as well can fight in the tournament, so just what are you on about?!" Replied Cecilia.

"No, your units' damage is extensive, and has been classified at level C. So neither of you will be participating in the Tournament." Stated Miss Yamada firmly.

Then started an argument between Rin and Cecilia versing Miss Yamada, both the girls let go of me. I, not wanted to waste an opportunity to opt out of possible trouble, stealthily began to back up and make my way to the door. Charlotte followed me and if the look on her face was anything to go by, she wanted to leave for the same reasons I wanted to exit discreetly. I thought that we were golden as I had a hand on the door about to open it, when good luck ran out.

"Hey, where do you think you two are going?!" said Rin and Cecilia.

Charlotte and I froze on the spot as we had been caught trying to slip out of the room, we both turned to face those in the room. I was the one that spoke up, "Well Rin, Cecilia; as you two need rest to recover from your injuries, we were going to just going to give you that time to do so…" I paused and grabbed Charlotte by the hand and threw open the door, "Get plenty of rest girls, BYE!"

After ending the reply, I rushed out the door and pull Charlotte after me. I heard Cecilia and Rin starting to chase us, but Miss Yamada stopped them. Charlotte and I were moving down a hall away from the infirmary, Charlotte stopped me, "Sai."

I came to a standstill, "My apologies Charlotte, for pulling you with me, I doubt that those two would have left you alone, so I…"

"It is all right. I just wanted to thank you for partnering up with me, it is very nice of you." She said.

Smiling I replied, "Don't mention it Charlotte; I meant what I said that we work together. And you deserve as much of a chance against Bodewig as I do. Together, we can defeat her and show her that the way she judges people is wrong."

Chapter end!

 **A/n**

 **I'll leave off at this point, next chapter will be the match between Sai and Laura for a good if not major portion of the chapter. Please, like always, take the time to write a review to say what you think of the chapter or the story thus far. Even if you want to say I'm an idiot and that this story sucks, I appreciate the feedback.**

 **Guest**

Glad you like this story and I'll try to keep it interesting.


	9. Battlefields

**A/n**

 **Hello again readers, thank you for the views and reviews that have come to this story! I'm working on revising the previous chapters, since some points have been brought to my attention and I'm addressing them and just changing things here and there. With that said, on with the story!**

Chapter 9

Battlefields

When the Saturday before the start of the Individual tournament, I used the final workday to the best of my abilities. That time was spent at Asake IS R&D working on my unit and making it as efficient and smooth operating as possible with the help of my friends. The day literally felt like it flew by with how involved I was with the task I was doing; before I knew it, I had gotten back to the academy, unit and all and was out shortly after my head hit the pillow.

Sunday was quieter than the previous day and far quieter than previous Sundays so far this year, girls weren't trying to play with me throughout the day, a mercy! I think they're preparing for the tournament that begins tomorrow and so were leaving me alone. Enjoying the respite, I was getting to experience before the battle that was looming over me with Laura Bodewig sometime this next week. I had decided to take a leisurely walk through the grounds of the academy and take in the scenery. My mood had shot up a large amount; though within ten minutes, I wasn't to be alone. I bumped into, of all people, Houki Shinonono and she wasn't in the same good mood that I was. "Hey Houki, what's going on?" I asked.

Houki stopped and her gazed shot up to meet mine, "What… Sai, what are you doing out here?" she asked.

"Oh, enjoying the scenery and relieving stress before tomorrow, how about you?" I answered and asked.

Houki was silent at my question; she had come to a stop as well. There was definitely something bothering the girl, words weren't needed to tell me that. I've found that… Talking about what is troubling me can help, don't always do that myself, but in this, I can be the listener for Houki. I looked around the area that we were in and saw a bench under a tree near us. "Perhaps you want to talk about what is bothering you Houki?" I asked pointing at the bench.

She nodded and we went and sat down on the bench. I waited for her to speak; I would be listen and act as a sounding board. After a few minutes Houki spoke, "You see, it was around this time of year, five years ago, when it started. I was in the fourth grade when everything changed forever. I was in the national kendo championship; and everyone around me said I would win." Houki began, "However, I was unable to attend the semifinal match and so, lost by default. The reason I wasn't able to make the match, was my sister Tabane, introduced the IS to the world."

Ah yes, the day that the Rabbit had shaken the world by introducing the Infinite Stratos; much more had changed than others knew. For me, it had started the week that had preceded the release of the IS. The dumb hasenpfeffer had been going on about the way she would introduce the Infinite Stratos that she, the doll and I had worked so hard on. There had been bad feelings at the time; because, the release of the IS would act as a capping stone in the chain of events. During the week leading up the when the bunny had brought Infinite Stratos out to the world, I had disappeared with the assistance of Chifuyu as I hadn't been in good enough condition to leave on my own. Due to an incident that had happened, unwelcome visitors around the laboratory that had occurred the night before the week before the release. It had happened two times before this, unknown groups of people coming and trying to steal our work. However, it hadn't been with the size of this force that we had during this attempt. Normally, Chifuyu with the White Knight equipped with core 001 and I with the Black Knight using core 000 would… deal with them. However, it had just been me in that event until the end when Chifuyu had come and saved my a**. But that's not something I want to get into…

Houki continued, "Due to the IS being as powerful as it was and its potential, the government were worried that it would be used as a weapon."

It hadn't been the original intent when the bunny, doll and I had been designing and building the IS, yet that's what it became. I've asked myself many times, whether something could've been done to prevent that or if that was just bound to happen. From what I have learned after I had left; the life sized doll had vanished shortly after I had, and done so without a trace, which isn't surprising at all with her. That just left the hasenpfeffer to do whatever the hell she wanted to do and so she did.

"Because of that, the government put my parents and myself into a protection program, moving us around in secret so we couldn't be used as hostages to get to my sister." Said Houki not stopping While I kept my silence.

I know that we wouldn't be the only ones that would be affected when our invention was seen by the world, but I hadn't known what extent or whom that would include. I had only been eight at the time and even if I was a genius when you are talking about intelligence, but my global comprehension was very skewed and small then. I think that's one of the reasons that Chifuyu helped me leave and get away from the bunny and the doll, mostly to remove the influence they had on me. I was smart with knowledge, but didn't have much understanding. Chifuyu and Ichika were the ones who taught me about what the world was like. In fact, that's where Chifuyu took me, was to the house that she and Ichika lived in… I had wonder where she had gone when she left sometimes…

Houki kept telling me her story, "Before I knew it, I was separated from my parents and lived with my other relatives. I have not seen them for years and have only spoken to them a few times in those years." She paused, "And the one who was responsible for all of this to begin with… I didn't know where my sister was nor where she is even now. I don't even know if she cares as she really doesn't talk to me very much."

I couldn't say for sure if the bunny had cared back then, doubt she does now. The rabbit only mentioned that she had family a select few times, but not much more than that. It had been me that had asked those couple of times though she never answered me straight, just placated my questions. I can't be sure, yet I think they saw me as 'family' to a degree and so were nice to me a good portion of the time. At least, both she and the doll had been nice to me and had looked after me for around two years… even I couldn't deny that. If the bunny was willing to look after me; why wouldn't she go and see her family from time to time? It has bugged me when I thought about it. The doll… I have never heard of her having any family whatsoever, and with her… I could believe she didn't have anyone other than the rabbit and myself.

Houki's expression shifted into one of frustration, "Even so, people from the government kept interviewing me over and over… I lost count of how many times within the first few months and they kept coming. All the while, agents were watching constantly; how can anyone not be affected going through all of that?!"

The guilt came in waves washing over me; for I played a part of what this girl had gone through, even if she had no idea of it. I had become part of a family by the time and had started to feel happy while Houki had been going through this. I share some of the blame that her sister does, not as much as the bunny does herself, yet I'm still not blameless.

"Kendo was pretty much all I had, so I kept practicing; I had made a promise to a friend from when I was a child. … But then, I was informed he had died. I couldn't stop though…" She continued.

… The other event in my life that had changed so much, Ichika's death… Now that I think about it; he did mention a purple haired girl that went to the dojo he attended when he was younger. I guess he could have meant Houki. The girl herself had become silent by this time and I refocused back on her and not on the thoughts of my past. "I can't say I know how that feels exactly Houki, as I have lived a different life than you. But I can understand not being around family. I've pretty much have been on my own from when I was six, only when I met Chifuyu did I have what one might call a family again…" I said trailing off.

Houki stared at me, "Chifuyu?"

I nodded, "Yep, she took me in and I stayed with her and her brother Ichika for a while."

There was silence between us and it was an uncomfortable one; we need a change of subject. I decided to break it, "So, with the tournament starting tomorrow; you understand that whether you win or not, I'm still willing to take you out on a date, right?" I asked.

The blush that appeared on my fellow teenage, was like watching a gasoline fire starting, was amusing. She was still looking at me but she was taken by surprise by what I said apparently. "Y-You mean that?" Houki tentatively asked."

I smiled, "Yes, I do; you asked and I said yes. I'm a man of my word; so, just do your best in the tournament."

Houki happily nodded. In the back of my mind, there was still a feeling of guilt eating away at me. Having reminders of the past that I don't want to recall… Isn't pleasant at all to have come.

-Scene change-

Monday morning rolled in, Charlotte and I were in the locker room, dressed in our pilot suits and waiting for our first match in the individual tournament beginning today. I was gazing at the screen displaying that was giving an overview of the arena and those who had come to watch the matches of the tournament. Granted, they may not be here specifically to see the first years' matches; more likely the second years and up to the fourth years. But, don't doubt that I'll be getting attention after the first match, though more specifically the match when Bodewig and I fight one another. "Must say, quite a lot of guest to view the individual tournament." I commented seeing some well-dressed people sitting at one end of the arena.

Charlotte came up beside me and looked at the display, "Oh, I believe some of those observers are recruiters here to look for prospective pilots among the seniors. Then, I would assume the others are here to see the Juniors and Sophomores, to see how much they have learned in the year that has past." She answered my comment.

It would make sense, it's from the IS academy that companies and governments scout out young people to work for them. Will be refusing any and all offers from those who will approach me and there will be quite a few of those I'm seeing now once they see the match between Bodewig and me. As I said before, I have no interest in working for anyone, nor 'work' for anyone so that they can make money off my work by calling it their own. I might as well just announce to the world that the bunny didn't create the IS alone and I'm one of the two others that participated in the creation, it would have the same effect in essence.

"Well, it's a tough job I suppose, but someone has to get stuck with it. I'm curious as to how the pairing worked out for the first year tournament bracket?" I asked to myself and the room at large.

The flier had stated that for those who didn't pair up with someone by their own choice, that they would be assigned a teammate by random drawing. I had been approached by girls throughout the week asking… and at times begging for me to be their partner for the individual tournament. Of course, as I had chosen Charlotte as my partner for the tournament; I couldn't accept the offers, so I politely declined the girls that asked and begged me. I would convey my heartfelt condolences to whomever will be forced to pair up with Laura Bodewig, that will suck badly!

"Are you thinking about the match with Laura Bodewig?" Asked Charlotte, gaining my attention back.

"And you're not?" I replied in a flat tone.

To be honest, I had thought about the match that Laura Bodewig and I would fight it out to the finish whatever that would be. That end, were it up to Miss Bodewig, I would be dead at the battle's conclusion and she standing over me in triumph. Were it up to me, I would rather that not happened; for that, it would require Charlotte and I winning the match… or the teachers getting to Bodewig before she manages to get past my defenses and do real harm to me. Not to say I haven't had people hate me… even one or two who hated me to a great degree to the point you can accurately say they hated my guts. Nonetheless, I've never had anyone want to have my head on a silver platter to be fully satisfied!

Charlotte gazed at me steadily, waiting for my answer to her. I sighed, "Am I worried… yes, the German girl is out to take off my head if she can. Do I think she can do that? I find it fairly unlikely as teachers will be on hand should something go wrong and I don't intend to lie down and let Laura Bodewig have her chance to kill me."

My French partner still looked worried, "Sai, do not let her get to you. Keep in control and we should do well, even against Miss Bodewig." She said with confidence.

What Charlotte said is true, we keep calm and level headed; we should do very good in the tournament. Laura Bodewig's problem, is that she so focused on her goal, which is ending me currently; that she was blind to almost, if not all else. It is similar to having tunnel vision, you only see what's directly in front of you, so when something comes from anywhere else, you won't see it at all. "The reminder and pep talk is appreciated Charlotte; however, I know not to let my emotions get the better of me. Thanks for the suggestion though." I replied to her.

The screen that had been showing the overlook of the stadium cleared and then the displayed the bracket that showed the order of fights and who would dance with whom. As expected, us first years were the first up to duke it out among one another and now we would know the order that would play out. "Look they are posting the first matches." Charlotte said.

Glancing over the bottom of the bracket which had the starting line-up for this contest, but I didn't get far… in fact, I stopped when I looked at who would be going first. I couldn't help what came out of my mouth, "What the hell?!"

Charlotte gasped slightly after I had made my exclamation. The first match of the Individual Tournament; was Charlotte Dunois and myself, verses Laura Bodewig and… Houki Shinonono. … I feel very sorry for Houki, to be paired up with the one that's arguably a descendent of Adolf Hitler. I say that because Bodewig has a similar mentality with me and probably most if not all other males, as that villainous man did with the Jews in Europe during World War II. The beginning match in this contest would be something else, that's for sure! D**n it, guess I won't have to wait long at all to settle things with Laura Bodewig; we're the first match.

Not even fifteen minutes pass by from when Charlotte and I were in the locker room, to the two of us being on the grounds of the IS arena, facing off against Laura Bodewig and Houki. All of us were all outfitted in ISs, three of the four of us in personal units and Houki in one of Japan's Uchigane models. Bodewig was completely focused on me and me alone, as I suspected she would be and had the look of bloodlust in her eyes. The German female smiled as she glared at me, like an animal salivating over good quality meat they're about to consume. "To be able to face you in the first match of the tournament; how very convenient and wonderful. I won't have to wait to prove you are nothing and be rid of you!" She said to me.

Honesty is the best policy in my opinion, and I would be lying if I were to say that I wasn't looking forward to proving that Laura Bodewig's view and conception of me was utterly and totally wrong. The enjoyment I feel when I disprove someone's misconception of something… normally their view of me or what I was capable of, was hard to match. This situation was no different to me really, "Admittedly Bodewig, I'm glad we don't have to exercise patience and wait to settle our issue. But be careful not to focus on how you see me; I've a very nasty habit of proving other people like you wrong." I returned to her with a half-smile.

The image of a blue cube appeared above us, it had the number five on all the sides except the top and bottom, the countdown timer then is it? Absolute silence settled over the stands as the numbers began to count down towards the start of the battle that would be no doubt epic. You would need a sharp knife to cut the tension with how thick it was and it is still getting thicker by the millisecond! By the time the countdown was at two, a lumber jack's heavy axe or one of their tree saws would unlikely be enough to split the tension now.

"Your defeat will be the first thing you experience today, but not the last!" Shouted Laura Bodewig.

So, that's the way she wishes to do this? Then bring it on! "Dream on Bodewig! I'll wake you up to reality so d**n hard that your head will need days to get it to stop!" I bellowed in response.

The horn sounded, signaling for the battle to start. Laura Bodewig surged forward, carving a war path towards me. My response was to shoot off to the right of where I started and the German adjusted her path and began chasing me. I assumed Charlotte was focusing on Houki as that was the basic plan that we had discussed before the match. No offense to My former roommate, but she was the weaker one of the opposing two-member team. Plus, it would be better for her to be out of this fight as soon as possible, for her safety and well-being. Laura Bodewig is as dangerous to her teammate as she is to me; heck, I doubt Bodewig sees Houki as anything more than an obstacle between her and me. Flying at a moderate speed, Bodewig was closing the distance, which is what I wanted her to do. The fine art that is leading an opponent into a trap; it takes cunning and skill! I was definitely leading her into a trap and she, like a mouse; was so focused on getting the cheese that was the bait, that she doesn't see the trap itself the bait was set in to tempt the mouse. Just goes to show how dangerous it can be to focus on your target to the point that you shut out everything else.

We were flying close to the wall of the arena and when she was almost within twenty feet, I brought out my gatling guns, and the German girl didn't notice the action. Bodewig was fifteen feet, when I sprung the trap; I did this by spinning around and pointing my gatling gun barrels at her and started unloading lots of rounds at her. Was satisfying to see the look of surprise that showed that I had caught my opponent off guard as she was forced to block with her arms and energy shield as the rapid firing projectiles peppered the German for around ten seconds. However, after those ten seconds of peppering with bullets, Bodewig managed to project her AIC field, stopping the barrage of weapon fire.

The teenager smiled with victory as she closed in on me, her beam saber on her right arm igniting. But a shot from my right forced my opponent to slow down slightly and have to regain stability in her flight path. My gaze shifted in the direction that the shot had come from and saw Charlotte giving me a grin while she was holding her scoped assault rifle, which was smoking a bit. Refocusing back on the one who had it out for me to do me in; I closed the distance. When I was next to Bodewig, I swung my whole body around in a tight turn and brought my left metal fist slamming into the German's undefended gut. The result was her going a small distance sliding along the ground before coming to a stop in a crouch. Bodewig was getting up, when out of the corner of my eye I noticed Charlotte was reestablishing her assault rifle's aim to train on the grey haired girl. Yet, as she was about to start shooting, Houki swung her katana at my partner, forcing Charlotte to dodge and weave out of the way.

My attention was turned back to the one after my head, as she had gotten to her feet and Laura Bodewig's expression denoted that she was very mad. I think she needs a time out so that she can cool off… doubt she'd do so by her own will and choice. Well, I most certainly can provide her with some help on getting her to take the needed time out and chill. Brought out both my railguns, and hovering over to a spot perpendicular to the arena wall, with the teenager between me and it, fired without hesitation. I sent two explosive projectiles at her and the concussive blasts sent Bodewig backwards hitting the wall hard. Even with the energy barrier, the impact rocked her heavily;so, the hot headed German is taking a short time out to cool off. It's unlikely to help her, but one can hope it does something.

I zoomed over to where Charlotte was in a clash with Houki and dove right on in. Took out both my beam sabers and as Houki was swinging her katana downward at Charlotte; I caught the blade, bring it to a halt. From past experience, I had the educated guess that Houki was strong, especially when she had a sword like object in her hands. She has sent long objects my direction a couple of times while we were roommates… due to misunderstandings… Thank goodness that I have amazing reflexes developed from martial arts! Nonetheless, the strength of her swing I was currently blocking was still impressive to me! I was working on forcing Houki to back up, when a purplish tinted cable with an orange spike on the end wrapped around Houki's right leg. To my irritation, I had to watch as Houki was jerked backward and then upward and she went in a circular arc and then hit the ground, with Houki yelling at the one responsible for her trip to end plowing into the ground.

Laura Bodewig apparently, believed that she was done with her timeout… and had just hooked Houki's right leg with one of her 'dagger cables' and threw her own teammate out of the way to get to me. Our beam sabers met and locked in a clash that neither of us was willing to give ground to the other. I couldn't stop myself from telling this German that her treatment of her comrade was just wrong, "Have to say Bodewig… that was low! If that's how you treat others on the same side as you, then it's clear why you have no friends or anyone willing to be around you." I remarked to my opponent.

"If it gets me closer to the goal I'm working for, then it is fine and acceptable. There is no need of friends, they are a weakness." Bodewig replied.

I can't believe she thinks of others like this! Laura Bodewig had pretty much said that, 'as long as the goal is reached, it doesn't matter how many bodies of the sacrificed litter the pathway to the end'. This just makes me want to beat Laura Bodewig more! "It's that kind of thinking that will end with you being totally alone. Even Chifuyu wouldn't be like that!" I snapped back.

My mention of Chifuyu, threw Bodewig off and taking the opportunity, rushed forward. I physically grabbed my opponent, IS and all in a firm, vise grip; my wing apparatus swung to have all of them pointing behind me. All my thrusters ignited and both Bodewig and I moved forward from my perspective. The girl I held didn't struggle at first, she was more surprised at my action and so didn't fight back. I leaned forward to increase the movement and I shoved Bodewig to the ground and pinned her to it, dragging her along and making a credible trench. Hadn't dragged her more than fifteen meters with my opponent against the ground as we went, which would be draining her shield energy and just delivering physical impact to her. However, she managed to pry my grip loose and hit me off of her hard.

Flying in a perpendicular direction that I had been traveling scant seconds ago, spinning as I went. I bounced against the ground once before I regained my bearings and managed to get my feet connected to the ground sliding against it and came to a stop seconds later. I stood back up facing Laura Bodewig, ready to resume this contest in which, one of our strategies would be what determined who would have the victory. The sound of voices speaking, came to my ears and the first was Charlotte's, "I'm sorry that I'm your opponent instead of Sai as you might have wished, I just ask you do not take this personally." Said the French teen.

While this was being said, there were bangs sounding as I assume Charlotte kept firing two guns, likely her assault rifle and shotgun if I go by sound alone. Houki wasn't appreciating the shots being fired at her… Yes, I could tell that Charlotte's shots were connecting on each and every one of them.

"What are you… stop that!" Replied Houki.

The was three more shots from the shotgun and then the sounds from the two girls fighting stopped. Laura was getting ready to charge me, but I had enough time to glance over to the other battle and see Houki rising, but then the IS unit she was using gave off steam and slumped. That signaled her IS had just run out of shield energy and was unable to continue the battle. A little guilt washed over me, it was kind of mean to target Houki first for the simple point of taking her out of the match so that Charlotte and I can then focus a team effort on Laura Bodewig, but that's how it had to be. The German was aiming to take my head; this is serious business! I would do whatever it would take to keep my head exactly where it was connected to my neck! Just the same as if I were going against the hasenpfeffer or the porcelain doll!

Speaking of my opponent, she aimed her 'railgun' at me a let loose a round; I dodged the shot. I brought out my beam rifles and shot back, yet as I suspected that didn't work as Miss Bodewig just used her AIC to block me. Bodewig was about to fire her cannon again, but she's forgetting a very important fact, I'm not alone. The flaw of the AIC, is that it can only work on ONE target and only one; this was proven when she got hit and the cannon's orientation was changed at the last moment, causing the shot to go wide and miss me. Turning my head, I saw it had been Charlotte and her assault rifle that had yanked opportunity from Laura Bodewig once again. Charlotte came over to where I was, "You alright?" She asked.

I nodded, "Yeah, finished my warmup and getting the ball rolling in this battle. Thanks for the assist by the way, but with you here we can get this match heading towards its conclusion. I would like not to die and that means we have to beat Bodewig."

Laura faced us down; after one last look at each other, Charlotte and I sped off in opposite directions. The tactic of splitting your enemy's attention in multiple direction, to confuse one's opponent, is effective. More so, because this opponent's 'undefeatable defense' depends on the German focusing on her target for that defense to work. However, the grey haired teenager went after Charlotte and not me… unexpected. I more expected her to go for me, yet my partner had prevented Bodewig from getting me, so I guess that could be a reason.

I made my decision; taking both of my beam rifles and combining them into my single long gun, I brought it to bare on Bodewig. Of course, I couldn't fire this gun at full power, it would kill Laura Bodewig and leave nothing. I fired this weapon at a little less than an eighty percent back at the class league match against Rin when I was aiming at the IS the doll made. With the adjustments that Olivia and I had done last Saturday, this gun was more manageable; but it's still dangerous. This weapon hasn't gotten out of the experimental category yet, unlikely would with much more work. I needed to be careful; so, I charged up the power to ten percent and took aim at the intended target. Once I locked in the beams path it would take and pulled the trigger.

The beam wasn't as big as it had been previously, but it was still nothing to scoff at. It shot forward and hit the Miss "I need no one else" that had battle lust in lots of surplus. The shot threw her off Charlotte nicely. Bodewig recovered, yet was sent a distance of twenty-five meters before she was able to stop. The German glared at me, raw fury evident from her expression, "Why would you lay down and die already?!" She barked at me, sending out two of her dagger cables whizzing towards me.

Deflecting the first dagger by punching it with my right fist and ducking out of the way of the second dagger. "I like living Bodewig. Not sorry to disappoint, but I won't be dying yet thank you!" I yelled back to her.

"That's right, this isn't over yet!" Shouted Charlotte without missing a beat.

The French female shot forward at a fast rate of speed and got into close range of Laura Bodewig. … Well, that's intriguing, I didn't know that Charlotte could use an ignition boost with her machine; the girl is full of surprises! With Charlotte having closed the distance, she had her machine gun out and blazing along with one of her shotguns spitting at the German. Bodewig had no time to put up a defense or to really react other than cross her arms over her chest and face to block the incoming fire. "Wh-What, she can use an ignition boost?! But that wasn't in the data on her or her unit!" called out Bodewig flustered by the change in the flow of the match.

Charlotte kept up her assault, "That would be because this is the first time I used it and I'll make it count!" she replied firmly.

Our opponent was a little confused, "You just now learned how to use it?"

… This needs to end Here and now! It's two against one, Laura Bodewig will lose this fight! I deployed my gatling guns once again and took aim at the German. Meanwhile, said woman I was aiming at, was trying to put on an expression of confidence after being taken by surprise by Charlotte's surprise attack. "That doesn't matter, you're still powerless against my cancelling barrier…"

My arm gatling guns flashed to life and I started shooting at Bodewig and cut her off in mid-sentence, causing her to cry out as she stumbled forward a bit from the short barrage of bullets. … If only shutting up politics in the US was as easy… To add insult to injury, I called out one line to the German on the receiving end of my bullets, "You were saying Bodewig?!"

Laura Bodewig's glare she shot me, was a murderous one; her railgun came up, pointed at me and fired it off. Moved to the right and heard a second round shot from the girl; I leapt into the air and spun into a tight barrel roll. Shot two from my opponent's rail cannon zoomed past me while I was looking at the ground. At the same time, I began bring out my own railguns. seconds later, my feet hit the ground and planted themselves firmly and I came to a stop with my guns at the ready and pointing at our opponent. I smirked and yelled, "Hey Bodewig, special delivery, FIRST CLASS!"

The two railgun on my hips hummed and fired; the projectiles hit Laura Bodewig head on and hard, exploding in front of her when they were at point blank range. The shockwave sent the German girl flying backward towards the arena wall. Charlotte rushed forward at our opponent, her left shield over her arm at the ready. As she got close to Laura Bodewig, Charlotte's shield blasted off and… a shield pierce was visible. Very nice, well played indeed! My partner started punching Miss Bodewig in the gut over and over. … And that's that, the match is pretty much over… and yet, why do I get the feeling that something is amiss?

I glanced over to where Houki was and saw her sighing in relief as it appeared this was over; however, I was still on edge. Can't say why that is though; little did I know my answer was on its way. It came in the form of an alarm going off from my unit's interface, "Warning! Valkyrie Trace activation signal detected!" blared Corinthos.

My eyes went wide at hearing that… and the feeling of impending trouble is justified. The Valkyrie Trace or the VT system, a ridiculous idea that had been developed to in theory, increase the performance of an IS equipped with it; that was the original idea in mind with those who designed it. It's my understanding, the system was designed to mimic winners of Mondo Grosso Tournament; I don't know the specifics as I had and wanted nothing to do with such a thing. The idea uses the pilot as a 'power source' as well as a basic 'command input', yet the pilot themselves have no real control. My suspicions of the doll or the bunny being somehow involved have always been high, though I can't be sure. The VT system is far too similar to an ability that the prototype IS I test piloted had equipped with core zero. I cursed under my breath; I had to warn my partner pronto, "CHARLOTTE, BACK AWAY!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.

Charlotte reacted and followed my bellow and not a moment too soon! What appeared to be electric arcs of energy began to come off Laura Bodewig's machine and the girl herself started screaming. A shockwave shot out along with dirt, dust and pressure wave with Bodewig being at the epicenter of it all. The wave hit me and I had to lean forward to have my center of gravity balanced against the force pushing on me. Blue light now only made a silhouette of the girl visible, with energy crackling and arcing around her. I kept gazing at the German as the light dimmed a bit and I could see her again and the expression on her face, clearly said that she didn't know what was happening. Bodewig's unit then became a black mass with no defined features and started to engulf the girl even as she continued to scream. The black sludge started by enveloping her arms and legs, followed by her middle and was about to finish with her head. The girl's struggling did little, the look on her face before she disappeared was one of fear and as she looked directly at me it became a plea for help.

Sirens sounded through the PA system, "This has been declared as a state of emergency. All tournament matches are canceled. The situation is now classified as level D, and a team of instructors will be handling the situation from this point and they will bring things under control…"

The security bulkheads started closing quickly, one after another to ensure the safety of the spectators. There were screams and panicked shouts from members of the student body as they were running to a safer place. The voice from the PA continued, "All guest and students are to evacuate immediately for safety."

While pandemonium was settling in among the audience, my attention hadn't left the developing problem. What had been Laura Bodewig and her IS, was shifting and changing was still in progress. The shape was becoming clearer as more time passed, even as it was becoming sharper; I already could accurately guess who it would appear as. As the VT system mimics the winners of the Mondo Grosso, there was but one answer. A likeness of Chifuyu Orimura sharpened and finished materializing and the energy and blue light vanished. The black figure was Chifuyu using the IS unit she had during the tournament years ago, 'Yukihira'. … Things just became a lot more complicated and problematic for all concerned!

I turned to Charlotte, who was just staring at the black figure, "Charlotte, take Houki and get back to the pits, now!" I said firmly and left no room for argument.

My partner did what I said without argument, Houki resisted however, "No!" she looked to me, "You're coming with us!" Houki shouted.

I shook my head, "No, I'll be handling things here for the time being… until the instructors arrive."

"But you can't do that alone!" Rebuked Charlotte.

I pointed towards the pits, "Get Houki to the pits first and then come back and help then. I can manage for that long, now go!" I answered.

Charlotte nodded and then started to get Houki going towards the pits, which she wasn't wanting to do with me staying out here in the arena. Once Charlotte had almost literally dragged Houki into the pit area, the door closed and I was in the arena alone with tall and gruesome. That means that it's just 'Black Chifuyu' and me here in this arena… And that's just fine by me. Well then, time to change things to go more my way… Hopefully, but first things first… got to CMA, or Cover My A**!

"Corinthos, this won't be an open viewing show, make it so there isn't a possibility of that happening." I said firmly.

"Understood… accessing… Reconfiguring shield barrier frequencies… Changing security policies… Video and audio recording and access disablement complete."

Ah, it's times like this Corinthos is wonderful to have with me! Now that my a** is covered well enough, I can get to work; but first, should change into something a bit more fitting for the occasion. "System command, switch over to full armor mode and link primary power supply to auxiliary power grid."

"Acknowledged." Returned Corinthos.

My unit began to glow, where once was space between the pieces of the restraint system where parts of my own body showed, appeared grey plating. Over The area from my knees up to my my hips, two rings came from the around where my legs slotted in and two rings came out from around the ball and socket joint of my legs. The rings formed a tunnel and once in that position small plates of metal began appearing between and along the rings. At the same time, the identical idea and process was being done to my upper arm, encasing the area. The process and system, I call Shifting Armor or SA for short. It's an invention I had started developing a little more than a year ago, with the help of Matt and Luther; probably not completely ready for full use, but desperate time require risky measures. The SA allows nearly complete range of movement with joints as the armor is made up of lots of smaller pieces of metal that can shift on the X and Y axis, hence the name of shifting armor. It's still a work in progress… The restraint system itself gained somewhat heavier plating, adding a bit of weight, but it was manageable. The final addition, was that my head was encased by a helmet, complete with respiration filtration system built in and active heads up display. The point of this change, now I was a good deal harder to take down and I can also deliver more force to my opponent too… Enhanced performance is a part of the SA package. Sometimes I can amaze myself with the work I come up with!

The HUD was showing that power levels overall had risen, shields were now back up to full and were at 800, which wasn't a standard feature on IS, but that's what I get for using a custom unit, with its core being made from one of the IS core prototypes. The system performance was also up and I would likely need the advantage in this battle. A forward screen popped up and were being fed by input from the helmet optic sensors; tall and gruesome was still exactly where she was before, not a single reaction to the change. We'll see how long that will last!

Without further hesitation, I moved forward and started peppering my opponent with my gatling guns as I moved ahead. 'Black Chifuyu' swung down her sword and I veered to the right avoiding the sword, yet I didn't let up in the barrage of weapon fire I was sending to her. It didn't take long for me to see my gatling guns weren't having the desired effect even as I circled around this black machine. Well, as Einstein once said, 'doing the same thing more than once and expecting a different result is stupidity' and I'm not stupid; time to switch to a different method. Storing the gatling guns, my beam rifles appeared at my hips and I grabbed them.

Black Chifuyu performed a low horizontal slashing arc and I felt the first decent shot of adrenaline start to run through my brain. Passage of time seemed to slow down a fair bit, seeing the big blade coming at me; I leapt into the air, spun in a seven hundred and twenty-degree double twist over the sword swishing through where I had just been. It felt like I was moving in an environment that slow motion was the normal speed. During the second three hundred and sixty twist, I proceeded with combining my two beam rifles into one. I shifted my body and pointed my long gun at the black machine and pulled the trigger. Wing thrusters ignited and slowed down my backwards momentum caused by firing my long rifle. My opponent used its left shoulder shield plate to block the shot I sent; however, what ended out happening, was the shield being used to block, shattered from the blast.

The black machine, after the loss of part of it, reached its left hand forward in the attempt to grab me. Lowering my combined rifle, I pointed myself at the oncoming machine; two small openings appeared on either side of my chest on the front restraint. Fast orange bursts of flame flashed from the openings as weapons began firing. In full armor mode, the front plate of the restraint had vulcan mini guns set in them and they have a bit more punch than my gatling guns as they used high impact rounds, even if they only fire a thousand rounds per minute instead of twelve hundred. They were enough to force black Chifuyu to stop and take a few steps back as I kept firing at her.

Yet, with a sweep of the large sword I was made to move back and recover, which forced me to stop the stream of bullets. I landed on the ground and slid back almost fifteen feet. Looking up to my opponent, who was now above me with her blade being raised upward preparatory to strike me. I was about to release my grip and drop my combined rifle and raised my arms above me with light shield emitters in front to block, when projectiles made contact with the black machine's backside. Glancing behind my opponent, I saw Charlotte Dunois in her IS, using her assault rifle and shotgun… And it was holding the attention of black Chifuyu. Picking up my rifles and storing them, then took out my beam sabers. Coming around to face the front of black Chifuyu, I leapt up in the air, my thrusters suddenly blazing and rocketing me upward. Igniting my sabers just before I reached the top of my arc, which was above the black machine.

As I came down, I cut a swath right down the center of my opponent, leaving an open gash with the path I cut. When I touched down on the ground I shutoff my beam sabers, put them away with a bit of a spin and flare. I followed this by disengaging my unit, which took a few seconds more as there was more to deactivate. The gash opening widened and out from it, Laura Bodewig fell forward; I raced forward to catch her. As she fell, the eye patch over her left eye came off and I noted that the eye under it was golden yellow and was glowing slightly. Laura Bodewig fell directly into my arms and was out like a light. … Honestly, the things I do for others; it makes me think that what the doll says of not caring about people isn't the easier way to go. Is helping and saving others like this really worth it?

-Scene change-

After having to recount to members of the administration staff of the academy, what had happened out in the arena when things in the middle of the match went wrong, I was heading back to the dorm. The explanation had gone into the evening before I was released to go back to my room. I was still thinking about the incident that had happened during the IS match today, trying to figure out implications that could point to why it happened. Knew the fight with Bodewig would be one to remember, but not in the way it had. I may not like or much appreciate Laura Bodewig's attitude or opinion… of me specifically, but she didn't deserve what occurred.

"Sai!"

I stopped in mid-step and turned to see Chifuyu coming up to me, "Chifuyu, what's up…?" I asked trailing off when I saw the dead serious expression on her face. Me thinks that I'm going to come off not so nice with this conversation… "I assume this isn't a social call or to say congrats of doing well in the match today then..."

Fell silent at the stare that Chifuyu was giving me as it was enough to give me my answer of me being correct in my assumption. "Sai, I want a completely honest answer to you." Chifuyu said to me flatly with a slightly frosty tone.

Staring at the woman for a moment, but then I gave my answered, "Okay, shoot."

My 'sister' grabbed my right shoulder… and her grip was a little painful! "Did you have any idea that Bodewig had a VT system equipped to her machine?!"

Chifuyu squeezed intensified every second as she asked the question… if she grips any harder, then she could fracture my arm and shoulder blade! "Ease up Chifuyu! You trying to snap my arm off?!" I blurred out.

The woman didn't do any such thing, the pressure remained… Actually, that's not right, the force from the grip kept slowly increasing. "Did I know about the VT… aaa ha ah… your grip is stronger than ever… OW…!" Swear there was creaking of extreme stress on my bones.

I had to take a deep breath as a wave of pain that I was feeling registered. This is no time to beat around the bush, Chifuyu means business, "I knew nothing about it Chifuyuuuu AHH!"

"Yet you somehow were aware of it before anyone else." Remarked Chifuyu coldly.

My knees buckled under the pain and they hit the floor; Chifuyu's hold that was keeping me in place didn't change as I sunk downward. "Chifuyu… if you're going to… GAH… break my shoulder… D**N… then just do it already! F**king D**N IT, THAT HURTS!"

Sweet f**king relief! That's was what I felt seconds later when my teacher released my shoulder. I fell to my butt holding my right shoulder as the pain still throbbed. A moment after I managed to push mentally past the pain, I glared at Chifuyu while I was taking in deep breaths and let loose what I thought… without filtering. "What the hell Chifuyu?! Good God! Are you trying to turn my shoulder blade into fine powder, d**n it?!" I nearly shouted at the woman.

Chifuyu just kept glaring at me coldly, "You sure you didn't know about it? This is serious Sai Taichi." She said.

"Chifuyu, I rarely lie; less so when you're crushing one or more of my bones! I'm not here because I want to be, the F**king hasenpfeffer is blackmailing me, that's the reason I'm at this academy. And for your information, I detest the idea of the Valkyrie Trace system as well as the methodology it's based upon. You of all people should understand why I do." I stated in a controlled voice, "I have experienced what it is like to have one's free will and mental faculties overridden… or have you forgotten that prototype core 000 could do that at times?"

I got back up to my feet and shook my head before I walked away from Chifuyu and to the dorm building. When I got to my room I did put ice on my shoulder as Chifuyu had freaking squeezed my right HARD! Her hand had been like some kind of hydraulic press that was crushing bone! I haven't a d**n clue what tomorrow will bring… guess all that I can do is get some sleep to get ready for it.

Chapter end!

 **A/n**

 **And that's where I'll leave off. Hope the match between Sai/Charlotte and Laura/Houki was satisfying, both parts of it. Plus, now I got out more background info on Sai. Please, as always take the time to write a review and tell me what you think or if you wish to bring up something. Peace out!**


	10. Spring Break?

Infinite Stratos Hidden Trump ch 10

 **A/n**

 **Okay here is chapter 10. Would have like to have finished this earlier than this, but school doesn't allow that… That's life. However, down to business, again this does kind of do a 'lose' cannon, in the fact that location will match… but that's about it. Now, the previous chapters have been revised and there have been some changes. One, Sai has more of a mouth and foul way of thinking. Next I have done grammar and just kind of expanded and added depth to the story overall. The final thing I did was to change the rating from T to M. This is to cover my rear as there is a bit of a riské scene in this chapter and I don't want to have anyone get on my case for putting in a scene that some nudity is involved. If you have problems with such things, then you can skip the scene as I have marked the start with a warning. Anyway, enough from me, on with the story.**

Chapter 10

Spring Break?

It had been weeks since the Individual Tournament; after the incident that occurred during the first match, things had calmed down somewhat. For judging the rest of the students' skills and performance, there were one on one skirmishes held for all but Charlotte, Houki, Laura Bodewig and myself, to grade them. Those tests spanned the next two weeks and that brought time to the first long break of this semester, spring break. Chifuyu's confronting me after I had talked to members of the academy staff and had given them an account of what had happened in the arena, had been unpleasant. I mean, she got close to crushing my shoulder blade and probably a number of other bones around the same area she had been squeezing d**n it! When she asked if I had known about the VT system that Bodewig had equipped to her IS… I don't know why Chifuyu had even considered for a moment that I could have known. With some of the things that had occurred between core zero and myself… would have thought she could understand how much I despise ideas or systems that control or supersede the pilots will and mind. Core zero could do that and did once with me in the machine… Still have nightmares about that experience even to today. Then Chifuyu had accused me of knowing because I knew about the VT system activating before it had come on to full power. The only reason that I had any warning, was Corinthos could detect the type of signal that a VT System puts out and just picks it up quicker than other systems that the arena had.

With the days and weeks that had come after the debacle, I had been visited and approached by a number of girls. That included Houki, Charlotte, Rin and Cecilia, those four just came directly to my room when the other girls didn't. Houki came the evening of the same day while I had been Icing my shoulder from Chifuyu's steel vise grip. Now, I've made it a habit to lock the door to my room with all the locks that I installed when the dorm room became my room. So, when Houki came banging on my door, the door held fast, proving that the quality that I had purchased was paying for itself! My former roommate sounded worried as she 'knocked' on the door. After letting her in, she gave me the whole nine yards in how reckless I had been going off and fighting on my own. That I could have been hurt or killed with going against the VT IS. When Houki had finished her 'lecture', she noticed that I was icing my right shoulder and she had asked me how I had hurt my shoulder. Long story short, Houki had been very worried about me and was showing it in her own way; she just does so bluntly and without holding back… At all really.

The next morning, Charlotte had come by to check on me; she had been a little nicer than Houki. She even walked with me to get breakfast. But, Charlotte had been out on the field helping me during the second half of the fight I had been in. I think that the French woman was trying to be a support for me, which was kind of nice. Both Rin and Cecilia had also confronted me about what happened during the match. They had done something of a mix between Houki's reaction and Charlotte's. I thought after those four girls had said their piece to my face, that I could relax and not worry about the effect from the event… I was wrong.

What had really surprised me, was the change with Laura Bodewig. During the week after the incident, I did face the German girl and I fully expected her to hate me more or at least blame me for what happened. Yet, the girl that had been after my head was now… Well, not being violent to me. In fact, she had become cordial towards me, which was fairly weird. It was somewhat similar to the change that Cecilia had undergone after I showed her up, it was just more noticeable with Laura Bodewig. I had been well aware that the German teenager was bold, but that word doesn't describe what Laura Bodewig had 'attempted' to pull with me.

-Flashback-

It had been about a week after the tournament, had just gotten back to the classroom from the practical application course. I was putting my stuff away and had my mind thinking about what I could acquire for lunch so that I could have the energy for my college classes in the afternoon. However, before I could head to the cafeteria a voice called my name, "Sai Taichi!"

I turned and saw Laura Bodewig… Knew I would have to face this female at some point after what went down in the arena. This is just sooner than I expected… D**n. "Yes indeed, Miss Bodewig. I take it you want or need something?" I posed.

Out of the corner of my vision, I saw Houki, Charlotte and Cecilia moved closer to where I was. I believe they were trying to get between Bodewig and myself. The German made her way forward until she stood in front of me. I tensed a bit, not knowing what to expect from this girl; I haven't forgotten that she had set out to kill me the last time we were anywhere near this close. Laura and I stared each other down for a full sixty seconds, the silence was absolute to the point that you would feel the same if you were at a funeral. It was Bodewig that spoke first, "I will make you my bride, that's final and I will take no arguments from you."

You would clearly hear a pin drop to the floor as well as the bounces that would occur before that pin settled. I blinked as I took in what the German had said. Two thoughts ran through my mind when the information sunk in; the first, 'What… In… The… HELL!' The second, 'ANOTHER ONE who is going to cause me stress to no end… WHY!?'. The three girls behind me voiced their protest to Laura Bodewig's claim. While that was happening, I slipped away and left the classroom without being noticed. I wanted no part in the battlefield that had been laid down, along with the mine field that was throughout.

-Flashback end-

Now that "Spring Break" was around the corner as it was coming up next week, I was looking forward to time away from the academy. Plus, a good and bad event was approaching for me. I'm glad my friends from college are here, but even I know, they will have to return to the university soon enough… Likely after spring break. I would be left alone again, which I wasn't looking forward to, yet I didn't feel that I could plead for them to stay longer. They have school as well and as good friends as they are, I don't want them to give up things just for me. So, while they're here for spring break, we're going to live it up and see sights that not everyone gets to see! In fact, the gang and I had been discussing where we could go; we were going between Kyoto or maybe Okinawa and tour one of those places.

That brings me to the present, which is Saturday; Spring Break starts Monday of the coming week. I planned to go and spend time with my friends; it's likely the gang would have to head back to America soon enough. So, I wanted to spend as much time as I could with them, before I would be deprived of their company for the rest of the semester. However, on my way out, I was stopped by Chifuyu before I left. She informed me that there was going to be a beach trip during Spring Break and that I would be going as well. In fact, I was basically told that attendance is mandatory; no debate, no argument… Well, that's… Not so nice… I ended out telling Chifuyu that if that was the case, I would provide my own means of transportation to the place, which she had told me.

I left for the house where the others were staying at, felt the wonderful change in atmosphere and mood the second I stepped through the door. Although, I had expected there to be a change in mood, for it to have this much of a difference! The feeling of excitement and happiness was clear in the house. Hadn't gotten more than two steps in the door when Jia grabbed my right arm and pulled me to the large room just after the foyer or entryway. I was sitting down on the floor staring at my friends surrounding me and they were all smiling at me. Baffled as I had no clue as to what they were so happy about right now I voiced the question, "Um, hey everyone; what's going on?"

Jia, who was behind me, wrapped her arms around me and tugged me backwards and began squeezing me to her. "Isn't it so great Sai, isn't it, isn't it?!" Jia was saying happily.

Confused with what the Chinese woman had just said as it didn't make sense; since I had no idea what she was talking about. However, before I could inquire, the breath got forced out of me as Jia hugged me tighter. I gasped, "Jia… Ease up… Can't breathe…"

"Whoa, Jia girl, know ya like to share the love n'all, but ya gotta remember that there be limits to how much love one person can take. So, slow down and take it easy on Sai would'cha?" Said Matt.

The pressure, instead of lessening, increased after Matt spoke, "Aww, but it's so hard not to hug Sai! He's such fun to hug and I just can't help myself!" Returned Jia.

I was pleading that someone would get Jia to let up as I was just starting to see the edges of grey tunnels in my vision. That meant I would lose consciousness sometime within the next few minutes. It was the sound of Cassidy's voice that gained my attention, "Jia, stop hugging Sai as you'll cause him to black out soon! You're making it so that he can't breathe."

The pressure let up and I coughed and gasped for sweet oxygen! Cassidy had come to my rescue and I thank God that she did! The grey tunnels, which had been slowly closing in on me, faded from my vision as I gulped down air. Olivia started berating Jia, while Matt and Cassidy came to my sides and I felt their hands on my shoulders, "Hey there Sai, ya all right friend? Ya lookin mighty pale like ya been told ya don't get no dessert when it's your favorite." Asked Matt.

"Indeed, Jia has always had trouble knowing where to draw the line." Remarked Cassidy.

"Yeah… I'll be alright; so, what was Jia talking about? She was saying about how great something is." I replied.

"Oh that, well Sai, as it happens, we were able to arrange things such that we can stay here until the summer." Answered Cassidy.

My head shot up and I looked from Cassidy to Matt, looking for ANY signs of them joking with me. When I saw none, I couldn't help but ask the single question that was occupying my mind, "Are you serious? Please don't joke around me on this subject, you're not kidding are you?"

"Sai, this ain't somethin that we would joke about with ya friend, any more than ah would fib to my ma about what happened round the ranch." Assured Matt.

I glanced over at Cassidy who was smiling at me to tell me that what they were telling me was correct. Felt the excitement and the joy spread in me like wildfire using some of the driest grass and fuel for the fire that you can imagine. The event I had been dreading wasn't going to happen! Happy day! For one of the few times in my life, I felt tears start coming from my eyes and I didn't hide them or brush them away. When I began to sniffle a bit, everyone looked at me, "I… I don't deserve friends like you all… B-but I'm glad that I have all of you at times like this!" I choked out.

Don't have a clue how I was able to have friends like those here with me, if I had anything to do with them being around me at all. But D**n, am I ever glad they're willing to stick with me through hard times! It took me a bit to regain my composer, yet when I had, I started to tell the gang about the beach trip that I was now required to attend. Thankfully, none had a problem with going to the beach and my friends would also provide a ride for me as well. With that settled, Luther and Cassidy got to calling the hotel that the IS academy students would be staying at and found out that it was a large hotel and could accommodate all of us as well, just in a different section, which worked out for the better. Olivia and I were arranging for us to rent a vehicle for transportation to the beach; while Matt and Jia were going over what supplies we would need for the trip. It took a little over an hour to get everything in order, and that was when the point was brought up of more than half of us needing swimwear.

In still very good mood, we set off to get what we would need for the 'beach trip'. I know that Luther and Matt already have swim trunks, but I don't; so I would need to get some. Then, as Cassidy, Olivia and Jia are girls, they wanted to look at swimwear while we were out and about. It didn't take long for me to find swimming trunks that I was good with wearing; took me around ten minutes for me to have them purchased. That left Luther, Matt and I waiting outside the line of three fitting rooms where the girls were still 'trying on' swimwear. It was another fifteen minutes before us guys heard anything from the three girls and Jia was first.

"Iya, tell me what you think guys." Came Jia's voice.

The three of us that were standing a short distance from the fitting rooms waiting for the ladies, when Jia spoke. We turned around… I froze and gawked, while Matt just smiled and Luther just looked on. The reason we were reacting the way we were, was because Jai was showing her choice of swimwear. My Chinese friend was modeling a two-piece bikini; the bottom was baby pink with the sides tied by black and white striped strings. While the top was also the same shade of pink, the two pieces of fabric were attached together with a white and black striped bow. The shoulder strings were the same black and white straps as the other strings of this bikini and the shoulder strings were tied behind her neck. Finally, the strings that came from the sides of the top piece that went around Jia's back; said top barely kept her rack contained within the fabric. I think that my Chinese friend picked out a size too small… make that more than one size too small for the swimsuit.

None of the three of us spoke as we took in Jia's choice in swimwear. Of course, before any of we males could regain use of our voices, another spoke. "Jia… I'm not so sure about this one… it's not really… something I think I can wear on a beach and not be embarrassed about."

Following hearing the voice of Olivia, she stepped out of one of the fitting rooms. Like Jia, Olivia was also wearing a Swimsuit, but hers was a… one-piece, I think? So, the French woman had on a suit that had the basic form of a one-piece, but Olivia's mid-section was visible. That transparent section over the middle, was shaped like a half oval. The swimwear had fabric down both sides and the back, leaving the front midsection of skin of the wearer fairly easy to see. As for the color scheme, it started with sky blue at the right shoulder strap that went down diagonally leftward and circled back to the right at Olivia's waist and ended at her right hip. Above that sky blue stripe, was a darker light blue that ran just left of the sky blue and that was next to a neutral blue. The neutral blue was also the color of the back of the suit and the left shoulder strap.

Olivia appeared to be about to say something more, but stopped at seeing Luther, Matt and me. There was a moment of silence between us, before Olivia's face started gaining a red tint and she gave out a quiet 'eep' and quickly reentered the fitting room she had come out of. … I never thought Olivia was that self-conscious about her appearance.

"Olivia, you need not be embarrassed about the suit you picked out; I wouldn't doubt the boys would say that it's fine if you gave them the chance." Said Cassidy as she stepped out of the last fitting room of the three.

We 'boys' as we were just referred to as, turned and looked to our third female friend. Cassidy, I must admit, was hard not to stare at with open amazement. I've always known that Cassidy can easily be considered a knockout and beautiful young woman, but seeing her like this… it just was her in a swimsuit made it harder to not notice. For Cassidy's choice in swimwear, she went with a two-piece bikini that was a navy blue in color. The bottom piece had no strings like Jia's bikini did, it was just one complete piece. The top section had an inch band at the bottom that the two triangular strips of fabric that went up and wrapped around the back of her neck. Then Cassidy unlike Jia, actually tried on the size that fits her and not a size or more smaller than she should be trying on.

Olivia's face, which was still a little red poked out of the curtain and she was looking to Cassidy for a bit of reassurance. Cassidy glanced over at us guys and gave us a look to speak up and make a compliment. Matt spoke up first, "Y'all look awesome and look mighty fine!"

Luther nodded in agreement, "Indeed, the swimwear that you three chose looks good."

After Luther had made his comment, I regained the use of my voice. "Um… I agree with Matt and Luther. You three look really good… amazing in fact." I got out of going into more detail of the comment by looking away, "Although Jia, maybe you might want to get something a size or two bigger. So, that you don't have the risk of the suit or bikini slipping." I said.

-Scene change-

I woke up, well rested which is rare for me. Picking up my phone and saw that it was almost six in the morning. Normally, I would start Sunday at around seven so that I would get an hour to sleep in instead of school days where I need to be up at six if I want to start the day on my terms. I jumped out of bed and headed into the bathroom and did the business of the morning, after finishing, I grabbed my bag that I had put together last night and headed out the door. There was silence as I snuck through the hallways of the dorm building, I kept an ear open to listening for any noises that would signal anyone that could find out that I'm slipping away. Hearing nothing, meant few if any of the female first years were up at the moment, a plus for me for the time being.

Yes, I'll be seeing most of the first years later today and I can totally handle that. But to have confined with at least two classes worth of female teenagers with probably one 'responsible adult' to keep control over the herd… Yeah, doesn't take a genius to see ways that the sixty plus girls could have their way with me unable to escape. And then, if to somehow make this more fun than that, the girls would have between three and four hours depending on traffic. A situation I wish to avoid as I would a dangerous plague! So my solution, which Chifuyu couldn't deny as I'm required to go apparently but not to travel with those of my year… a wonderful loophole that I discovered a few weeks ago. That was to have an alternate means of getting there in the form of my posse and traveling together.

A simple solution for a complex problem, a methodology I like to go with often as it has served me well. However, there are a few issues in this particular conundrum that I doubt I'll be able to ignore, namely five of them. Those issues are the girls who spend more time around me than the other and have more than just a flirting interest in me. It's not that I dislike them, they just are getting REALLY persistent on… vying for my attention. I wouldn't mind as the same thing happened from time to time back at Cornell, could ignore it completely… if it weren't the so called 'covert' contest/battle/fight the five girls were having that was to decide the 'ownership' of me. It had been going on since the first few weeks of this semester, even if I didn't acknowledge that it was.

Out of the five, Houki and Charlotte were the easiest to handle as they aren't blatantly fighting; perhaps they listened to me when I tell them to not fight while I'm around. Can't say the same for Cecilia and Rin; those two tend to bicker with each other, even if they don't physically duke it out… yet. Then… the newest addition to the group demanding my attention, Laura Bodewig. She came out of left field! I mean, she had fully intended to put my head on a silver platter and now she had begun acting like she owns me… Even calls me her 'bride'. The German is upfront and honest… Or rather, I would say she doesn't know what she's doing when it comes to social edict. It's unlikely that the girls would be happy when they find out that I'll not be riding on the buses that the other first years will be. Bet they were having some sort of contest on who would get to sit next to me on the bus. Well, too bad for them; I'm not going to be on that bus as I'm going to be traveling with friends!

I left the school grounds and headed over to the house, to find that the others were sitting down to breakfast, which I joined. After the meal, it took us a little while to load up the van that was rented for the six of us and then pile into the vehicle. Luther was in the driver seat and Cassidy was the navigator, Olivia and Jia were in the middle seats while Matt and I were seat belted into the back seats. The reason that I was in the back with Matt, was if Jia was behind me or in the same seat as me, she would either want to play with me, or use me as a pillow. I was planning to use the travel time for doing some catch up with college work and Jia playing or sleep on me would make that a tad more difficult.

We set off by the time when it was seven in the morning; the trip itself was a total of four hours and five minutes. I was able to catch up on my school work as well as get an hour of sleep before our group arrived at our destination. Checking in didn't take very long as we were here earlier in the day than most hotel guest would probably be. I noticed that the hotel staff was a little stressed… Likely because they were expecting a very large group coming later from the IS academy. We got the key to the two rooms that we reserved and then headed to the rooms which was in a different section of the hotel complex then where the girls from the academy. The rooms that we paid for, were side by side and connected in the middle, it had been already decided that one room would be for females and the other would house us males. All of us got our stuff in the rooms and settled in. After that, it was agreed upon going to the beach that was just across the road and down below the hotel itself. So, we changed into our swimwear and for the boys, we put on shirts and went out to wait for the girls to join us.

A few minutes later, the girls joined us. Jia was wearing what looked like a white and pink flower pattern kimono that was short, and I mean that it only went to her mid thighs with the length and the sleeves to just above the elbow. Under that, I would assume was the string bikini she got at the store. Olivia was wearing a light blue buttoned up sun shirt and green skirt. Cassidy also had a sun shirt, though it was white, along with brown shorts. Now that we were dressed for the beach, that's exactly where we went.

The beach was not fully of people, but it wasn't empty. This was the Sunday of spring break; it will get crowded given time no doubt. Well, as it's still technically morning, the six of us wasted no more time and got down to having fun. And when I say having fun, I mean everything you can do on a beach legally from swimming in the water, to volleyball. There was even an area of rocky cliffs and a section of those cliffs, could be used for cliff jumping… was awesome to leap off a twenty to thirty feet high rock face and dive into the water! An hour and a half raced by and the gang got back together and we went to one of the seaside restaurants to do lunch. It was the first time I had actually eaten Cold Somen noodles and Vegetable Curry; heard about the two dishes before though. Both dishes were quite tasty, I'll admit.

After starting the meal, I felt a tingle go down the back of my neck and glancing around for a cause for the bodily reaction; my sight fell upon three buses that the first year girls from the IS academy. Ah ha… that's why I was getting a feeling of foreboding running through me moments ago. I'll soon be tracked down and hounded about not traveling with my peers… specifically, by the five who, I wouldn't doubt planned to spend a little more than four hours keeping my company. I returned back to my bowl of cold noodles and plate of curry and resumed eating… at a slightly brisker pace than before.

Fifteen minutes went by and I was able to finish lunch, but on the way out, I was accosted by the ones I was expecting to do so to me. Just walked through the doorway of the beach house that the gang and I had eaten at, when I heard my name being called. "SAI!"

I flinched and turned towards the direction that the buses were in and saw the five girls that insist on being around me more often than anyone else. Houki and Cecilia were in the front of the girls as they made their way over to me. I waved at them slowly and smiled halfheartedly, "Hey ladies… see you made it… how nice." I said.

Houki was the first to confront me with the expected issue, "How did you get here? You didn't travel on any of the three buses." Demanded Houki.

"Yes, you were nowhere to be found this morning Sai." Remarked Charlotte, though her comment was more like she asking out of curiosity.

I sighed, before answering, "Listen ladies, as it's spring break, I believe I should get a bit of a… well break. I had been planning to spend time with my friends, had been discussing on some sights around Japan. Yet Chifuyu informed me of this trip and that it was mandatory for me to attend it, so, decided to come with my friends here. Started out at seven this morning and got here close to two hours ago, so please, tone down the barking and hounding me." I returned.

-Scene Change-

All in all, the day had been great fun! Spending time with my friend like I used to do often on the weekends, was great; it's been pretty much three months since I had done so. It had almost felt as bad as an addition withdrawal according to medical understanding and methodology. Things had gotten a little more taxing when the first year girls arrived. They had ALL wanted time with me and wouldn't take no as an answer from me. So, I was forced and dragged around to 'play' with my peers for a good deal of the afternoon.

Since it's early evening, I suppose that I should go get dinner. Began heading towards the dining hall where all the other girls were, wondering how dinner would end out for me… Probably like it usually does, being stared at and not getting the most peaceful meal. Yet this view changed when I was joined by Olivia and Jia on my way. Both women said that they still needed dinner and since I was heading to dinner and the hotel did provide breakfast and dinner for their guests as part of the price paid. I wasn't going to complain about the company.

My gratitude for two out of the five of the gang at my side, skyrocketed when I entered the 'café' of this hotel complex. Why? Oh well… It could be that if was full of hotel guests… Or maybe that I was wanting a break from the stressful environment I have been in since the beginning of the semester. But I think the biggest reason that stands out to me, would be that this large room was filled with all the IS academy first year girls. My best option in this kind of thing is to keep quiet and not be noticed…

"Yeah, Taichi is here!"

The voice had been that of my classmate Honne, and her exclamation drew the attention of most if not all the rest in the room. This put me on the unwanted stage of being offered a seat and the girls fighting to get me to sit next to them. However, I simply raised my voice so that the ladies could hear me, "Ladies! There is no need to fight, I'll be sitting where I choose. So, please go back to eating dinner in peace."

With that said, Olivia, Jia and I went to the food counter and obtained our dinner, then went to one of the few empty tables. It took less than five minutes for Houki and Charlotte to come and also sit at the same table as myself and two friends. We were shortly joined by the other three girls that hover around me. As I'm one that attempts to be polite as best as I can, I greeted the girls kindly, "Evening girls, have fun on the beach this afternoon?" I asked without looking up at the girls, focusing on my dinner.

There were mutterings of accent to my question. They had 'played' with me to a degree during the time at the beach, though I still spent a good portion of the time with my friends. Even though I now knew that the gang would be here to help me for the rest of the semester and that had given me a MUCH needed morale boost. I really only got weekends with them lately and some mornings and with the mornings it was for around an hour. But things would hopefully get better by the end of this semester… provided that I find the hasenpfeffer's lair, it will be less time!

I decided to glance up and when I had, I was forced to pause. The five girls were looking between Olivia and Jia. Houki, Cecilia and Rin were glaring a little at Jia and had more a look of curiosity with Olivia. But then those three had already met Jia once before… And it hadn't been under the best of circumstances. I smiled slightly, "Um… I guess introduction are in order then…" I started.

"Bonjour all of you, my name is Olivia Beaumont. It is nice to meet you all." Said Olivia.

"Iya, it's so nice to meet some of Sai's classmates! I'm Jia Xuan, but you can just call me Jia!" Exclaimed my Chinese friend, before she seemingly disappeared.

All the girls did their introductions and while they were, I saw Jia reappear behind the girls… Oh boy. It was comical to watch Jia press all five girls together as she gave them a group hug. "Jia, it would probably be a good idea to let them go so they can recover."

Jia did as I suggested, Houki was the first to recover and she looked to me, "What was that?!"

I shrugged, "That's one of the customary ways that Jia greets people, it takes some getting used to… trust me, I know and have experienced the idea. She is really open with people, that's for sure." I returned.

The girls didn't take my explanation well exactly; they didn't take in stride either. Although I can't blame them, it had taken me time to get accustom to how Jia expresses herself… Especially with what I feel with hugging… It's fine now, but it hadn't been so at the start. Poor Jia had thought she had done something wrong when she had said hello to me and embraced me, for I had collapsed the second she let go of me. It had taken a little more than a week to get her to listen to me and to tell her that she had done nothing wrong.

Well, after a few minutes the girls came out of their stooper and started raising all kinds of things with questions and demands. Was beginning to wonder how I could settle them down, when one of the doors to the dining hall slid open and there stood Chifuyu… She was in a light blue yukata with a darker blue kimono over it… Haven't seen her wear that kind of outfit in years.

"For the love of God! You lot are being too noisy! So, you all are to keep it below a dull roar, got that or so help me d**n it, you'll be thrown into your rooms and locked inside until morning!" Said Chifuyu in the form of an ultimatum.

… Wow! I know I can have a foul mouth sometimes, but it's because of Chifuyu that I have curtailed that out of habit. For her to cuss and swear is… Almost unheard of… I don't know whether I like this Chifuyu more or less than the normal one, definitely a change. Snapped back to attention when I felt the icy glare that only Chifuyu can give successfully, "Taichi, stop adding fuel to the fire!"

I stared incredulously at my older sister figure, "Hold it, are you saying this is my fault? All I did was come here and got dinner. I didn't rile these girls up; they did that themselves." I answered.

"What did I say?" posed Chifuyu in a tone that could freeze most people.

However, I'm not most people! "You heard me Chifuyu. You want a fight, then name the time and place. I'll show and we can throw down and settle this." I challenged.

The tension in the room was heavy! The stare down that Chifuyu and I were in held for half a minute, before Chifuyu broke it. "Another time, just keep it down." She finished.

I returned to my dinner as if nothing had happened. "Sai, was it really wise to argue with Miss Orimura?" Asked Charlotte.

I waved a hand in dismissal, "Done it before and I'm just fine. I know where to draw the line of how far to go." I replied.

The girls looked between one another nervously, but were silent. I didn't waste any more time, and finished my dinner. May have said that I'm ready to fight Chifuyu whenever she wants… but if I don't have to, then why put myself in the situation to receive pain and a headache? After I finish eating, which Olivia and Jia did so as well; the three of us left the café and headed back to the eastern side of the hotel complex. Once the three of us got back to the two rooms that we had, then began a discussion on what to do for the rest of the evening. The subject of there being several different types and various baths and spas here for the guests to enjoy. Didn't take long for the decision to be made for us to go and try some of them. So, without further ado, we donned yukatas and set out to see just what kind of baths and spas they had here. We started in a group of six, but that didn't last all that long. The gang had separated into pairs to explore the different baths the hotel has, I ended out pairing with Cassidy.

As Cassidy and I wondered around, looking at the various bath facility that this complex had for their guest to experience. Came to a stop in front of one of the baths that was unoccupied; the sign on the left side of the entryway stated that this was a 'mixed bath', but that wasn't much of an issue. For whatever reason, I'm okay with such a thing with my friends and the majority of adults older than me… Maybe because it could be that I'm desensitized to nakedness, due to the actions of the d**n rabbit and life like doll. … Those two, I can say without ANY reservations… had absolutely no modesty when it came to themselves around me. Hell, it wasn't an unheard or all that uncommon of an occurrence for those two women to walk around without clothes… Or underwear for that matter, on a random day. So, I may be desensitized to things like this, yet when around those of my own age, I have difficulty… I have no idea why there should be any difference between the two, but there is in my mind.

Cassidy and I separated to the changing rooms. After I went through disrobing, I entered the bath with a towel wrapped on my hips, I glanced around, taking in the scenery. The bath itself was open to the night air and was a fair size, could fit I would guess thirty people of more comfortably if I estimate right. There were two large pools of steaming water, lined with stones to make them look more traditional Japanese hot springs. In the corner of this outdoor place was a medium size shed like structure that, were I to guess is some kind of sauna. Looks like Cassidy and I scored with our choice with baths!

 **-Warning M rated Scene-**

"My, this is quite a nice bath." Came the voice of Cassidy.

I twisted around to my right and saw my female companion was gazing around the open air bath we had chosen to try out. Cassidy currently, had one of the hot springs wraps the hotel had for people to use in the baths and hot springs. The wrap started between the woman's collarbone and her bust line, more towards the collarbone and then it went down to Cassidy's mid-thigh. The cloth wrap, hugged my friend's figure, showing off her notably defined figure that she had. Cassidy also had her hair tied up in a large bun instead of her hair flowing down her back. I smiled back, "Totally agree with you Cassidy."

It didn't take long for Cassidy and myself to get clean and slip into one of the springs. The water temperature was wonderful, not too hot, but not lukewarm either, in the perfect range. I had to admit, this is an awesome way to soak the stress and troubles away! A little while later Cassidy decided to check out the Sauna, whereas I just kept soaking in the hot springs. I was enjoying the peace and quiet that was around me… Until the sound of the door from the women's changing room came to my ears and female voices started floating into the spring area. Well, this is a mixed bath; so, it's fine. I returned to soaking and didn't move from where I was sitting in the spring, just relaxed and didn't worry about those who would be coming in.

That view changed when one of the voices I heard, was heading to the door to the outer area and thus was easier to pick up. "… We were not able to find him." Said a female voice with a British accent.

... Hold on, I know that voice, specifically that accent, that would mean… what are they doing here!? I turned around slower than I would normally and confirmed that my ears were working exactly as they should. Walking out of the women's changing room were; Cecilia, Rin, Houki, Charlotte and Laura. I blinked a few times to make sure I wasn't seeing things and had to accept that I wasn't hallucinating. Rin and Charlotte had the cloth wraps on… Didn't leave all that much to the imagination though. However, Houki and Cecilia… held the hotel wraps so that their… nethers weren't visible; yet, the girls' chest areas were clear for me to see and with Houki and Cecilia… that's a hell of a sight! Again I have to wonder how it is that some girls have as large of a rack as they do… Is it genetics or perhaps something else… Who knows? And then, Laura Bodewig… Well, she wasn't wearing anything and so… was as bare as the day she was born… And she doesn't appear to be embarrassed at all! These girls… why can't they give me a moment's peace and not be harrying me?

I'm not embarrassed about my appearance… But well, I would rather not give these girls more motivation to jump me and… Get busy. Nor do I want to put my control to the test with this kind of situation… it might go bad for me. So, to help myself not to have difficulty, I turned myself back around and faced the way I had originally been facing. Admittedly, I had to say… I'm impressed at the sheer boldness and nerve that the girls were showing coming into this bath. I didn't think they had this in them… Or perhaps, they are just coming in not knowing the type of bath this is. Well, might as well find out which explanation is the truth then, "I've got to say girls, you're bolder than I've given you credit for." I said so that they could hear me.

There was near dead silence, only their breathing was audible. The next moment, Rin and Cecilia screamed; I think Charlotte gave out an 'eep' and Houki was… I don't know… Growling maybe? Then from Laura, there was no audible reaction that I could detect. All I can say is my ears hurt from the loud screams from two out of the five girls. I had my hands over my ear to dull the pain from exposure to the screams at close range. "Girls, are you trying to make my ears bleed?!" I snapped.

My martial arts instincts blared a warning and knowing that ignoring those instinct is never a wise idea for my well-being, I moved from where I had been sitting. A fist thrust into the place I had been, I jumped out of the bath to dodge the second strike, before settling into a defensive stance. The interesting thing, the towel around my hips was still there, even with the quick movements to evade the strikes. I found myself facing Houki who was the one trying to hit me with her fists, I had to prompt why she was trying to hit me, for there wasn't really a viable reason to, before she tried to hit me again. "Houki... Why are you attempting to hit me? What possible reason could you have to do such things?" I asked in a calm tone an adult would use with a child who did something that they shouldn't, but the child doesn't know any better yet.

Houki glared at me, "You even need to ask?! You're in a women's bath! … And to think that I believed you when you said you were not a pervert."

Ah ha, so then, it is the latter of the two explanations that I suspected; however, I was given no time to speak up in my defense in any way. That would be because Cecilia spoke before I could, "This is outrageous, for a male to come into a female's bath… I was expecting better of you."

The other three girls began saying similar things to me, though I still wasn't facing them. I'm surprised that Cassidy hasn't come out to see what all the noise was about. Now, I understand the reason these girls were going under and it was a mistake. They were under the impression that this bath is a female only bath, rather than what it is, a mixed bath. I guess it would help them and myself if I tell them that, "Ladies, did you or did you not read the sign at the entrance of this bath?" I asked in a normal voice for me.

My question got the girls to pause in their tirade, Charlotte was the one to respond to my question. "What do you mean Sai?"

I turned around and faced them, finding that all but Laura were at least covered up better than they were before; the German girl was still showing off her birthday suit. "I'll take that as a no, none of you even took a glance at the sign on the left post of the entryway that marks the type of bath in this complex? The one for this particular bath's sign, said 'Mixed Bath'. So, that's how this bath is set, so would you stop chastising me please as you have no reason to do so."

I got blank looks from Charlotte, Cecilia and Laura; as for Houki and Rin they began blushing. "What do you mean 'Mixed Bath'?" asked Cecilia.

She really hasn't looked at Japanese culture or tradition at all, has she? And by the expressions from Charlotte and Laura, they were wondering the same thing Cecilia was. I sighed, "Okay, a mixed bath or mixed bathing is when it's genderless; in other words, male and female can use this bath at the same time. So that you all know, I'm totally fine being in this bath." I informed.

The lack of sound was kind of unnerving. I made my way back to the spring and sunk back into the water. Silence didn't last long though, around thirty seconds passed and then the girls started sputtering and panicking. Ignoring the girls' reactions and shaking my head, I just continued to take in the feeling of the soothing water. The sound of someone entering the water snapped me out of my peaceful respite, looking over to see who it was, I discovered that Charlotte had stepped in to the spring and sat down not too far from where I was. She smiled slightly, but it was evident that she was nervous about this situation.

"No need to be nervous Charlotte. I'm not a pervert nor do I contemplate doing lecherous things; so you're safe. I have a well-developed control over the little libido I have." I said, trying to reassure my female seat neighbor, "Though I'm by no means, saying that you're not pretty Charlotte; you are cute and attractive."

I say I have a small Libido, and it's fair accurate. It's thanks to of course… the D**n hasenpfeffer and the sisterly doll. The things they did around me and to me… well, had made sure that with things that involved the subject of sexuality… I don't like and am sicken by most of the time. That doesn't mean I still don't find girls attractive, I still have preferences and think some girls are cute. But that's where things come to a near halt, and going beyond that, is much harder for me. In response, Charlotte blushed, "Oh mon, merci. That's so nice of you to say."

"Charlotte! What are you doing?!" cried Cecilia.

Would seem the other four girls have finished their stuttering. Honestly, all I wanted was a relaxing, peaceful soak in an outdoor bath, is that too much to ask? Shutting out the bickering of the females who have an interest in me, but their arguing made ignoring them harder.

"Hmm… I was wondering what the source of all the noise."

I twisted to my right and saw that Cassidy had come out of the Sauna and was now approaching the pool I was in. "Hey Cassidy, done trying out the sauna; how was it?" I asked.

Cassidy sunk into the hot spring and settled down against the side of the pool, "Yes, I had enough with the temperature and then heard the commotion out here and came to see what was going on. So then, I take it that these girls have been showing more than a friendly interest?"

 **-M Scene end-**

Didn't get a chance to answer, as it was at this point the girls took note of my college friend Cassidy. Of course, an uproar came from the quintet of ladies, since my friend had been in the sauna when the girls came in and so they didn't see her. Plus, Cassidy was one of the two of the gang that none of the girls have met and only Houki, Cecilia and Rin had met Luther and Jia when they came to the academy to pick me up. Then these girls had been introduced to Olivia and to Jia, some for the second time. … and now that I think about it… the girls might get the wrong idea about my views on 'the ideal female'. I'm not saying that Cassidy and I don't get along wonderfully; in fact, that's kind of where the misunderstanding can occur. She was my closest friend other than Matt and that's because I had him as a roommate. I had known Cassidy about the same time as Matt and we just sort of clicked and became quick friends. I remember the day we met like it was yesterday…

-Flashback-

Today was the second day of classes here at Cornell University and I was a bit apprehensive. Day one hadn't gone as well as I had hoped, it hadn't been the class themselves that had been hard. No, it had been the gossip that I heard whispered wherever I went, the only exception was during lectures and classes. I mean, I'm used to being talked about by those around you, was how high school was every day. But… some of the rumors were getting a tad ridiculous. When you hear some particular lines repeated… you tend to wonder who has something against you.

The first class of my second day was communication, it was a lecture format and so the number of students attending was higher than an average classroom size course would have. This would be my first experience in the academic setting with many people going to the same class I was. Let me just say it isn't easy to be a thirteen-year old on a college campus; I was nervous to say the least.

So, when I entered the lecture hall, I glanced over the hall, taking the room in. The seating was staged like stadium type seating or what you might expect in a place such as the national capitol, which congress uses for what they do. There was writing surface in front of the seats for taking notes I think. Down at the front of the hall was the teacher's lectern and a display for the professor to use during the class. The other thing that quickly became apparent, was when I entered, I became the subject of attention and whispers of those in the room. I began to make my way down the aisle, gazing around for a seat that I would be able to see the professor well enough and take notes effectively. As I walked on the left aisle, I couldn't help but overhear some of the whispers that were said by my 'colleagues'.

"That has to be him, the kid that was allowed to go here." Whispered a female voice from my right.

"He's supposed to be like eleven or twelve I think." Said a guy from the left.

"But how could a kid like that be permitted to attend here?" asked a young woman from the right and ahead of me.

"The word is, he's super smart or something like that." Came another female voice from the same direction as the previous one had.

Those were only some of the things that were being said about me. I'm not saying that everyone was doing this; my 'roommate' had been nice enough… Even though he was unlike anyone I had met previously. The guy's name had been Mathew Oscar, had a country drawl and used… Comparisons that didn't make much, if any sense to me. He was the first person in a while that would actually listen to me and not just think I'm a kid that can say big words. But, back to my search for a chair; I spotted one that fit the requirements I was looking for. There was a group of three girls in their early twenties, two brunettes and a dirty blonde. I took in a gulp of air and approached them, "Excuse me ladies, is the seat on the end of this row free?" I asked.

My voice hadn't changed yet even though I was going through puberty right now; so, the voice that comes out of my mouth is still high and childlike. The three girls looked me over, then the blonde one nodded to me and I took the seat. Thankfully, the professor came into the hall and the whispering about me died down.

With the class being a communication class, we were required to partner up to put into practice what we learned during the first hour of lecture. As it happened, the dirty blonde, who was my neighbor seating wise, we ended out being partnered up.

-End Flashback-

That's how I had met Cassidy. It had only taken two communication classes for the two of us to become acquainted and shortly thereafter, friends. … Actually, it was that lecture my first semester that had really helped me, to learn how to interact with others and for a lot of the rumors about me that had started, to be dismissed. Interesting, how getting to meet and know around a hundred and twenty people can change so much, no? Back to the present, the girls were accosting my friend.

"All of you girls, shush and calm down!" I said, getting their attention, "each of you can have one question answered, but one at a time please."

Rin was the first to speak up, "Who is this girl?" She demanded.

Cassidy stood up, "My name is Cassidy Mets, it's nice to me you girls." She introduced herself and bowing.

The quintet minus Laura, gaped at Cassidy as she bowed, whether it was the good manners or the view they got of my friend's large bust, I can't say for sure. Charlotte was next to ask a question, "You are a friend of Sai's, where did you meet?" She inquired.

… Uh oh… This could get very messy. Suppose there is nothing I can do about that now. Cassidy smiled at the question, "Yes, I'm a friend of Sai's, we met two years ago at Cornell University." Was the reply.

The stares of the girls swung over to me at the last two words, I sighed, "What Cassidy says is true, and yes, technically I'm a college student. I would rather that you girls not say anything to anyone else about it, please don't it would complicate things. Drop the subject for now." I said flatly.

"You are in college?" Uttered Cecilia.

I nodded at Cecilia. "But, how can that be?" That came from Charlotte.

"I'm very smart; don't ask why I'm going to the IS academy, I really don't want to talk about it." I said to end the discussion on the subject.

"So then, what is the nature of the relationship between you two?" Inquired Houki.

Ah, now that's the question I was expecting to hear. Surprised that it wasn't the first one said really. Cassidy spoke before I could, "We are good friends." Was her simple answer.

"Cassidy is one of my best friends to be exact. She was the one to help me learn to be around people much better than I did when I was younger." I added.

With four out of the five girls having asked their one question, that just left Laura. … I never know what to expect from her, she isn't very predictable, simply because she doesn't understand much about social interactions with others. Or rather, she doesn't have any experience outside of a military setting, would be my guess. In fact, Bodewig was staring intently at Cassidy, like she was trying to discern something. "What is your bust size?" Laura asked.

… Huh?! Out of all the things the German girl could've asked, that's the questions she poses?! Cassidy blinked and giggled a bit, "Is that all you want to know? Well, last time I had a physical and was measured, I was at thirty-six and almost a quarter inches in circumference; so, I believe a F size, if I'm not mistaken."

Oh boy, did the girls have looks of shock at hearing Cassidy's chest circumference. Not to say that I don't understand. My friend has more volume in that area than the average girl you come across, can't deny it. Cecilia was muttering something along the lines of her disbelief that… Well, that I knew someone with a larger size than her. Actually all but Laura and Charlotte were depressed for one reason or another after hearing what Cassidy's bust size. Charlotte was looking at Laura with a bit of a chastising expression, while Laura was nodding at receiving her answer. I sighed at the development that had happened. Rising out of the water, I made my way to the changing room and left Cassidy and the girls back in the bath. Once I had put the yukata I had back on, I headed back to the room and saw that Luther and Matt were already back.

Once I got back to the room, I was taking it easy and glancing over design schematics for my unit, mentally toying around with ideas for improvements. My attention shifted when Matt spoke to the room at large, "Whoo whee, times like this remind me of days back home on the ranch."

I looked up and stared curiously at my best friend, "Oh does it now, how does this remind you of home Matt? This isn't the western US, nor the country side." I said.

Matt shook his head at my question, "Nah, that's not what ah meant. Ah was talkin about the quiet night outside friend. It was this kind of settin that all my brothers, sisters, cousins and myself, would go out when dark fell and then… we'd play us some night games! Haah, those sure were fun… good times, good times; ah'll tell ya." Matt mused.

Night games huh? Wouldn't doubt they were fun with how much family Matt has… wait a second… that gives me an idea! A night game here would be awesome… but what game? Hmm… tag wouldn't be all that interesting… Doubt sardines in a can would be much fun… play that on a daily basis and would like a change… capture the flag, yes that would do nicely! As for teams, it won't be the guys verses the girls; no, more like the gang verses some of the girls. But how to get permission to do something like this? There is no way that it would be allowed without adult supervision or involvement, I'm not dumb enough to think I could do so and not get into serious trouble. Maybe… I could get Chifuyu in on this? Convincing her wouldn't be easy… unless… perhaps if I were to put this idea from the standpoint of her getting the opportunity of being able to take down some egos, she'd go for this. It's worth a shot; oh this will be fun!

I put my terminal aside and got to my feet, "Matt you're amazing!" I said.

Matt looked at me with surprise, "Well, thank ya Sai; that's mighty nice of ya ta say. But why do ya say that ah am amazing?" He asked.

I smiled, "Because you gave me an extremely fun idea." I went over to the sliding door that separated the girls' room and the guys' room, "Girls, come over here; I've an awesome idea to tell you!"

Minutes later we had gathered around the table in the guys' room and were looking at me. "Okay, listen up…"

Diving into the explanation of what I had in mind, I told my five friends about perhaps we could 'play' capture the flag with the first year girls here. Didn't get into a lot of specific details as they would be questionable until I got Chifuyu to either agree or not. If I got my older sister to agree and side with my friends and I, then there would be a number of things that we could do. If Chifuyu didn't either agree to this or didn't side with us, that would change things, so until that point was settled I couldn't be sure what the do's and don'ts would be. Everyone was excited with the idea and were all onboard with me.

So, I set off to the room that Chifuyu was in, for the purpose of persuading her to not just allow this 'game', but also to participate in the activity. Within five minutes, I was standing in front of the door I was after and without hesitation, knocked. Chifuyu told me to come in and so I did.

"What do you want Sai, it's late." Was the first thing that Chifuyu asked me when I stepped into the room.

Without thinking, my left hand came up and scratching the back of my neck, "Well, you see Chifuyu… I had something to ask you about and wanted your opinion, if that's good with you?"

Chifuyu gave me a long look with my request, "Okay, odd of you to actually ask before doing what you do… unless this request of yours is somehow questionable."

I put a hand over my heart as if Chifuyu had accused me of a horrible crime, "That hurts Chifuyu. The rabbit and porcelain doll were and are the ones who do whatever they want without having the curtesy of asking; I at least ask first… before going ahead most times." I replied with a smile.

My sister took a swig from a metal can, which I noticed was beer before staring at me. I glanced to the right and saw a small collection of beer cans… Chifuyu has been drinking again… hold it! This could work in my favor! Hello Lady Luck! Wonderful having your company tonight! "What is it that you're asking for?" asked Chifuyu.

Thinking on how to present my case, I came up with a way and smiled, "Well Chifuyu, no doubt you noticed that the first year girls were full of energy at dinner?" I posed.

Chifuyu nodded, I continued, "And that would likely mean that you and the other adults will have to keep a sharp eye on them while they wind down, and who knows how long that will take?"

My sister grumbled at the point I stated. "So, I got to thinking…" Chifuyu glanced at me, "Perhaps I can be of assistance to you and help you be able to get to sleep at a decent hour." I mused.

"And how would you be able to do that?" asked Chifuyu.

My smile shifted into a smirk, "Why, by tiring out the girls of course."

"Meaning?" insinuated my sister.

"Oh… a little game, namely capture the flag. It would take place behind the hotel in the forest area, nothing dangerous. But I thought it would be better to get permission from you than to cause chaos outright; since I bet the girls would be more than willing to play with me." I answered.

Chifuyu took another swig of beer and told me to elaborate, which means I have a maybe in the winds right now! And so, I began laying out how the game would be set up. The game itself would have rules the same as 'capture the flag', but since there may be some girls that don't know the game, as it was an American game originally as far as I understand. The basic rules, were to two teams and each would have a flag; I already had two bandanas to be the flags used. Both flags would be hidden by the respective teams and the bandanas had to have at least half of the fabric visible. The 'jails' would be a patio deck next to the gazebo and a grove in front of the temple. No 'jailbreaking' would be permitted, as dismissal would be the consequence to dissuade the idea.

The field would consist of the forest behind the hotel on the west end of the complex, which was the section that the girls were staying in anyways; the patio that had a covered gazebo of the hotel and the temple on the other side of the forest. The field measured around three hundred yards from end to end, the forest taking half of the field. Through the forest was a pathway to the temple and in the middle of the forest area there was a perpendicular intersecting path that would serve as the dividing line for the sides of the field. One team would use the temple as the base and the other would have the covered gazebo and the surrounding area up to the forest.

As the teams would go, the gang along with myself would make up one team. The other team would consist of Miss Yamada, class reps from each class and the class rep's choice of five girls from their respective class they're over. For class 1, Charlotte would fill in for me as I'll be on the opposite team. The winner of this contest would be determined with three games, by the best two out of three. I even offered Chifuyu the option to participate… being on my team!

After I finished telling how the game would run, Chifuyu took time to consider my proposal. To further my chances of getting this to happen, I added the nigh irresistible bait for my sister, "Plus… now that I think about it, this would be a wonderful opportunity to knock down some of the egos that some of the first year girls have. Not that idea being the point of this or anything, but if the such a chance should be presented… I would have a hard time saying no… wouldn't you?" I mused.

Chifuyu perked up at the mention of knocking down egos and taking down pride… "Sai, your idea for a game tonight is approved. And I'll even give you a bit of an advantage and join your team." Said Chifuyu.

YES! Oh this will be epic! I kept myself contained and didn't show my excitement, "Glad you are letting me help you wind down the girls, sis. I don't doubt you can come up with a way to get the first years to agree to participate and so I'll leave that to you. While you're doing that, my friends and I will be setting up for the first round of the game as we will get the temple as a base first." I returned.

I grabbed one of the bandanas, the red one and not the blue one… red will blend better I believe; then I left Chifuyu's room. Raced back to the two rooms that the gang were in and waiting for me to return. They all looked to me when I came in the door, I gave them the thumbs up and they cheered. "Okay everyone game on; so, listen up! We get the temple as our base for the first round, so there is work to do. Remember, we can't hurt the girls, so no getting ruff. … Oh, and Chifuyu will be playing on our team. We all need to dress for the occasion." I said.

Jia cheered and was jumping up and down, Matt was grinning from ear to ear. Olivia was smiling as was Cassidy and Luther was nodding. We all went back to our separate rooms and changed into darker clothes which would help in the game. Once we had all got into clothes that were much more incognito, my friends all looked to me for instructions, probably as I was the strategist of the group. I turned and pointed in the direction of the temple, "Alright, let's go all, there's prep work to do, MOVE OUT!" I barked like a general would command their troops.

The six of us ran out of the hotel, I set Luther and Olivia to ahead to the temple to look at the layout of our base for round one of capture the flag. Jia and Matt went into the forest to scope out what we had to work with in that area. That left Cassidy and myself to get a view of the other base that the girls would have in the first round. While Cassidy and I were getting a mental map of the area and seeing possible places that the flag might be hidden by the girls, when I happened to hear the voice of Chifuyu. "Listen up…"

I listened as I was taking in the area, and heard Chifuyu explaining the game I had talked to her about. By the reactions I heard from the girls, even at this distance; it sounded like they were very interested in the mentioned game. I had my suspicion as to what Chifuyu might offer as a motivation to the girls… and as if my thought was a signal, "If you girls win, then you will get to spend tomorrow with Taichi." Said Chifuyu.

Yeah, I figured that would end out being the reward and prize… just serves as motivation for me not to lose! Well, as Cassidy and I had gotten the layout of this area pretty well down, we headed into the forest. I wasn't interested in staying around… a dangerous choice that would be with the girls revved up. Within ten minutes all the gang and myself were gathered at the temple and it was decided to hide our flag by tying it to the single cheery blossom tree that stood in front of the temple on the right. For the next ten minutes that we were waiting for Chifuyu to join us, we went to the temple porch and began tactical discussion the game plan. When Chifuyu did arrive I gave her a quick rundown of the setup we had come up with.

It was kind of comforting to see that somehow my sister had sobered up to an extent, would need her to have her head in the game. Our team would be out numbered a little more than three to one as it's twenty-five verses our seven. Not to say that fact will make much of a difference as this match would come down to skills and tactics. Our team has a lot more than the first year team! We have Chifuyu Mondo Grosso Champion, Cassidy IS tournament gold medal team member, Matt's experience with being outnumbered by his family in games like this. The rest of my friends have their own set of skill that contribute in this and finally, there's me the strategist and tactician. My only small concern, was that it was likely… no, more like a guarantee that the five girls with serious interests in me will be going for me from the start. If they can work together, then they could become a force to be reckoned with! One things for sure, this will certainly be a game to remember! This will be fun!

 **Chapter end**

 **A/n**

 **And I'll end this chapter here, I'm sorry… okay no I'm not that sorry. The game comes in the next chapter, plus another event that I will keep to myself for now. Please take the time to write a review and tell me what you think of the chapter and the story thus far. Comments for readers does help improve my writing. Peace out until the next chapter is done!**


	11. Paths Crossing

Infinite Stratos Hidden Trump ch 11

 **A/n**

 **Okay surprisingly, this chapter came to me a lot faster… at least the second half of it. The 'night games' I already had an idea in mind at the end of the last chapter. Hope you enjoy this chapter it answers the last one and sets up for the next fairly well.**

Chapter 11

Paths Crossing

-Recap-

 _It was kind of comforting to see that somehow my sister had sobered up to an extent, would need her to have her head in the game. Our team would be out numbered a little more than three to one as it's twenty-five verses our seven. Not to say that fact will make much of a difference as this match would come down to skills and tactics. Our team has a lot more than the first year team! We have Chifuyu Mondo Grosso Champion, Cassidy IS tournament gold medal team member, Matt's experience with being outnumbered by his family in games like this. The rest of my friends have their own set of skill that contribute in this and finally, there's me the strategist and tactician. My only small concern, was that it was likely… no, more like a guarantee that the five girls with serious interests in me will be going for me from the start. If they can work together, then they could become a force to be reckoned with! One things for sure, this will certainly be a game to remember! This will be fun!_

-Present Time-

The faint sound of an air horn sounded, signaling the start of the first round of Capture the Flag! The setup was fairly simple; Luther, Olivia, Jia and Cassidy would make up the defense, while Matt, Chifuyu and I would be on the offensive. Jia would be in the forest so that she would be able to pick off the first year girls that would come this way. Olivia set herself at the inside edge of the forest to filter out our opponents further. Luther would act as the final line of defense should the need arise. Then finally, Cassidy, acting as the defense team leader; was on top of the temple as a watch person or lookout. Matt chose to make his approach up the east side of the forest, where I did the same on the west side. Chifuyu was making her way up the center and I feel kind of sorry for the girls that will be foolish enough to try to stop her! I'm well aware I said that this was only a game and it wouldn't be all that dangerous… But with Chifuyu, you can't guarantee where that level of danger will be.

Made my way, threading among the sea of trees; making as little sound as possible on my trudge in towards my opponent's base, especially after crossing the dividing line. Got to the edge of the forest and stopped, keeping out of sight and the light that the hotel side base had. I took a moment to study the current layout of the base and saw that half the girls were still there, meaning that the other half were like making their way towards the temple. The girls weren't very organized for team movements as the gang, Chifuyu and I were doing. We couldn't afford to take such things for granted, we were outnumbered, so tactics would be what would provide the path to victory! Right now, the girls were setup in such a way, that making my way effectively to the gazebo, which is where I believe the girls hid the flag, would be very difficult. What to do about that? … what I would give for a distraction at this time. As if my wish was a signal for divine intervention, it was at that time… Chifuyu burst out of the forest with a wonderful amount of noise and commotion. THANK YOU! THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!

I bolted out of the spot I was hidden in and sprinted into the back area of the hotel, while Chifuyu had the girls' attention on her. Was halfway to my goal when I heard a familiar voice, "Hmph, so, you did come then, my wife!"

Even with Laura Bodewig having seen me, I didn't stop, but kept going. That of course, didn't prevent Laura going for me and lunge at me. I dodge her the last second and continued sprinting forward. Not looking back to see if Laura was okay, I was focused on the gazebo and reaching it no matter what.

"Yee haa! Is that y'all can muster gals?! Even my younger kin could give me a better run around than this, WHEE HOO!" Hollered Matt.

Well, thanks to Matt, I now had little if any attention on me currently; it leaves me the freedom to find the blue flag. Reached the gazebo and after glancing around, spotted the blue bandana and grabbed it. With the flag in hand a turned around and began to run back towards the trees. Was almost halfway there when my luck ran out, some girls caught sight of me and took up the chase. It didn't take me long to understand that I had at least eight girls after me, with Maya Yamada leading them. Out of nowhere, Matt appeared right behind me, with a flash of blue and the eight females after me leapt at my best friend, tackling him to the ground. … Bless the man! Matt is a real friend… Is even willing to take the fall to make sure that I could keep going forward.

"You won't get away Taichi!" Came the voice of Miss Yamada.

AHH CRAP! One is still behind me! I picked up the pace of my running, determined to make in to the forest. My sub homeroom teacher was getting closer to me… I wonder what it would be like if she did tackle me to the ground… with the chest she's got coming down on me? … Not a good thought right now! Got… To… Make… It… To… The… Forest…! Just before Maya Yamada was about to reach me, a figure materialized. Chifuyu flew past me and took Miss Yamada down to the ground in a tackle… Thank you, sister; your timing is still nothing short of impeccable! Entered the forest and kept going along the pathway that lead to the temple, holding my current pace. Crossed the dividing line and was on my team's side, but that didn't mean that I was in the clear just yet. Until I reach the temple, or our flag is taken to the gazebo at the back of the hotel, this round keeps going.

Saw a couple of girls that totaled four in number ahead on the path, though they didn't notice me running in their direction… That's until Honne Nohotoke who was among the couple of girls ahead of me, "Oh Yeah! It's Taichi!" She cried cheerfully.

Nice, energetic girl Honne is; but at a time like this, it doesn't help me! Just as I thought I was in trouble, there came a call, "IYA!"

Jia, like she has some innate ability to simple appear out of thin air, did just that and came out from within the darkness. My Chinese friend tagged two out of the four females, thereby temporally making them unable to do anything to me due to the rules of the game. I kept moving forward and jumped over the two remaining girls and continued on my way to the temple. Those two had other things to worry about as Jia tapped both in quick succession, disabling them. In the next minute I got to the temple and so the first round came to an end, with the gang, Chifuyu and I winning it, which was signaled by the air horn going off to end the round.

It took ten minutes to reset and get ready for round two; as the winning team, we got to pick which base we got to use. So, as the temple had worked out so well, our team decided to stick with it for our base for the second round. There would be a bit of a change up so that the first year girls wouldn't expect the same strategy as was used in the first round. Luther would still act as the last line of defense at our base, with his height and build, it was the ideal position for him. And then Jia would still be in the forest catching those who might approach the temple; plus, she seemed to like doing what she did the last round. Matt would be taking up patrolling the nearest third of our half of the forest before the temple that Olivia had done before. Finally, I was on the temple playing the lookout and being the watchman for this round. For the offense team, Chifuyu was doing what she did before, going forward and set on winning this… very reliable my sister is. Cassidy was going to go up the east side and Olivia would take the west. We should be able to win this match and be done for the night and I earn a day of freedom tomorrow.

The air horn sounded for the third time, beginning the second match. The offensive team shot off into the forest towards our opponent's base. As for the rest of us, we were on alert and watchful for what might come. It didn't take long for the sounds of both sides meeting came in loud and clear… Closer to the hotel side of the field. Yet there was also a commotion that was closer to home base, if my ears weren't deceiving me. I hollered out an alert to the others of the defense team. Moments after calling an alert, four figures came out of the cover of the trees, I quickly identified them as; Houki, Rin, Charlotte and Cecilia. Great, this is what I was kind of afraid of, three or more of the quartet after my attention uniting.

Got down from the roof right quick and joined Luther moving forward to intercept the girls. I tagged Cecilia forcing her to stop and Luther managed to get to Rin. Both Luther and I scanned around the area to find Houki and Charlotte who had disappeared while we had stopped Cecilia and Rin. Two figures shot passed us and I caught sight of Houki and Charlotte; what really worried me, was I saw red in Houki's right hand. … She had our flag! I twisted where I was and sprinted after the two girls; the chase entered the path through the woods. As the pursuit continued along the dirt pathway, Jia popped out of the dark and was able to take Charlotte to the ground, leaving just Houki left. My former roommate picked up her pace and gained a little distance between her and me. How this girl was finding the stamina to run like she's doing, I've no idea! Unfortunately, that lead to an unwanted outcome in this; that being the first year girls won round two.

With the results as they were from the first two rounds of capture the flag, both sides had one win; meaning that there would be a needed to decide the win as it was to be the best two out of three. So, that requires that there be a third match to determine the winner… Fully intend the winners to be the gang, Chifuyu and I! Would rather not have to be at the mercy and whims of the first years tomorrow… For most of the day.

There would be some changes as to positioning on the field; since the girls had won, they got to choose which base they got to work with and they wanted the temple. That left us with the hotel, which wasn't bad, but meant that we would have to do things differently than the last two rounds. The plan for this match, was a bit desperate and yet… Was genius enough to work; team format would be the same in the way that the defense team would have four members and the offensive would have three. Matt and Olivia were watching the tree line like hawks do their prey; Matt was observing the west half and Olivia the east. Luther was defending the gazebo. And finally, Chifuyu was in the center of the lit area behind the hotel and would deter apporachies.

For the offensive team, it would be Jia, Cassidy and me. Jia and Cassidy would go up the sides and go for the flag. As for me… it was going to be my job to take the major hit for the team to have the win, by getting the girls to chase me, thereby giving the two girls time to get the flag. Wasn't looking forward to having to do that, but… If I don't, then the chances of winning go down. Me keeping the attention of the first year girls wouldn't an issue, it'll be a piece of cake. My motivation of not getting caught would be not being hugged, gives me that sick feeling, yet the girls won't make it easy.

The air horn blared and the round began. Jia, Cassidy and I charged forward with me taking the center path through the forest. It took me a couple of minutes to get to the other end of the trees and I burst out of the forest. Instantly, a few things were clear, I had around fifteen girls staring at me. … Well… Time for me to play my role in this… Yeah… Wha hoo. "Hey ladies… Catch me IF YOU CAN!" I shouted and started running.

Within ten seconds, I had all fifteen girls following me, just as planned… And what's more, I had Miss Yamada along with the girls… A bonus in this. For the next few minutes I dodged and weaved out of the grasps of the females that were doing quite a lot to catch me. I thought I would do fine for a while longer, but that changed when Maya Yamada started to organize the movements of the first year girls to begin blocking my ways of retreat. However, I knew that what I was doing and was working for. I caught sight of Cassidy and she had the flag in hand and was heading back to the forest and our side. None were the wiser of this and I would keep it that way for as long as I could. Had to win, it was to earn my freedom for tomorrow… With the threat of what the girls could and would do, I was fairly desperate.

Then I made a mistake, I let my attention slip for just a few seconds… That's all it took. One of the girls managed to latched onto my hips and then girls began getting a hold on me and dragged me down and piled on top of me. Now, some might have problems with fifteen girls piled on them, but that wasn't what bothered me. What I had an issue with, was the girls were telling me what they had in mind of doing with me tomorrow… And some of the planned activities were worrisome. The faint sound of the air horn was heard, "Sorry to disappoint ladies, but it won't happen as you have lost this round." I said with a satisfied tone.

The girls, instead of letting me go, clung tighter and whined… so unfair! In the end, Chifuyu and the gang had to pull off the first years to free me.

-Scene Change-

Woke up the next morning well rested; it felt nice to know that I was free from the clutches of the first year girls today as was the prize for me as the gang and I along with Chifuyu had won in the end with two victories out of three. In fact, I decided to take a walk to celebrate my freedom that for the day that had been earned. Noted that Luther and Matt were still sleeping, but then, I was always a morning person where Luther isn't really, and Matt, even having grown up on a ranch definitely isn't an early riser… anymore at least. Got dressed in jeans and a light blue t-shirt and then left the room and began just waltzing around the outside walkways of the hotel. It was nice and quiet at this time of the morning and I was enjoying the feeling of peace.

"Sai." I turned to see Chifuyu coming up to me.

I bowed slightly to Chifuyu, "Morning Chifuyu, you're up earlier than I would've expected. What's going on with you today?" I commented and asked.

"There will be a meeting later this morning which personal IS users will be at. Those who will be there will be; Alcott, Dunois, Huang, Bodewig…" Chifuyu started.

Okay, so there will be a gathering of personal unit owners… What's the point of this and why do I have to attend? With the victory last night in capture the flag game, I earned my freedom today, please don't take that away. "… You and Shinonono." Finished Chifuyu.

My thoughts came to a halt at hearing 'Shinonono'… Houki? Why would she be there? She doesn't have a personal machine… Which leaves pretty much one explanation, she's soon to get one. I doubt Japan would be providing that unit… That only leaves… NO! I'll be nowhere near wherever this gathering is taking place if that woman… That hasenpfeffer is there! My voice was low and controlled with my response, "As interesting as a gathering with those girls would be, I decline. I won't attend, no argument or debate Chifuyu."

Chifuyu held her gaze on me for a moment, "Care to elaborate why?" She posed.

I glared with contained anger and held back the cursing that came to mind, "Gaw-osh Da-aang it! … Let's take some time to look at the facts as they stand shall we? We both know Houki doesn't have a personal IS currently, unless she's been keeping such a fact a secret and is a master of deception, which she hasn't shown herself to be to me. So, going with that logic and taking into account that this gathering is for personal unit owners; then that would mean Houki has or more likely will be getting a personal machine sometime today. I can't see the Japanese government just giving her one; that leaves only the explanation of it coming from an outside source. Neither of us are dumb enough to not see who would have interest and motivation to do such a thing. And in all honesty Chifuyu, I've no inkling to see that woman! Would be more likely to punch her in the face for what she's done to me… Especially as of late. So, read my lips, I don't want to see, or be around, the bunny!" I gave in a cold tone that carried venom.

Not waiting for Chifuyu's reply, I spun around and continued on my stroll. About five minutes later as I was walking by one of the small garden areas here in the complex and as if fate was slapping me in the face, with what I just talked to Chifuyu about. There was a gleam of metal that caused me to stop mid-stride; glancing down and to my right, a feeling of anger flooded me. The sight that I saw got my blood boiling, for it was one I couldn't mistake… How could I not know those metallic bunny ears that the tips were pink and the upper half of the ears were white and the rest was black. I'd had to see them for two years straight when I had lived with both the rabbit and the doll. The metal bunny ears were stuck in the ground, with a small sign just behind them saying 'pull me'. I stood on the wood walkway and stared at the rabbit ears with loathing and rage, as much as whom they represented as to just seeing the metal ears.

There was a conflict warring within me that the outside world wasn't witnessing. That battle was to decide, whether to pull those ears out of the ground so that I would have the pleasure of delivering justice to the hasenpfeffer right here and now or just keep walking and ignore them and not have to deal with the bunny at all. Both choices have merit… But do I really want to deal with the woman that makes my life that I work so hard to keep semi normal go to the depths of hell? The conversation with Chifuyu, I believe sums up the answer; no, I don't want to put up with her. So then, keep walking, I saw nothing at all; there's nothing in that garden area other than plants and dirt! I see no evil, I hear no evil; the line I live by when it comes to the perverted Rabbit.

Was able to calm down and let the anger and rage drain away fairly quickly and so, was back in a good mood. It was then my cell phone rang. I took it out of the pocket of my Yukata and glanced at the ID… It was blocked. That doesn't happen often, wonder who it is? I answered the call without any more thought, "Hello, this is Sai Taichi, may I ask who's calling?"

"Hello Sai it's been over a year since I've heard from you." Said a male voice that told me who it was, yet what reason would he call me for?

"Yes, it's been a while, what's the occasion John?" I asked.

The man on the other end was named John Carter. I got to know him starting around two years ago and found him to be a good man. He had helped me out of a horrible bind… The one that the bunny threw me into and still has yet to apologize or give me an explanation as to why she did that to me. John works in the United States Government, he's one of my connections in it and has an awesome family… Met them, good people. "Well Sai, I'm calling to ask you for help on a development that has happened. I'm calling in the favor that you owe me for helping you get out of the 'shadow dagger' incident, when the Pentagon was hacked that occurred a little over a year and a half ago." John answered me.

Now I'm kind of curious what my friend is going to ask of me, but first I should see if this is something that is for anyone's ears or for a select number only. With the job John has, you never know, "Okay… Is this favor something that should be discussed in the open or something I should be in a room that won't be spied on?"

"Behind closed doors Sai." Was his reply.

"That's fine, I'll be bringing my friends with me, hope that's not a problem. If they need vouching, they have my complete confidence." I shot back.

"No, they should be fine; call me when you're ready." John said before hanging up the phone.

Raced back to the two side by side rooms, roused the gang and told them to get up and be quick about it. They did as I asked and then followed me as I headed to the one room I knew would meet the requirements that John had asked for indirectly. It was the 'Operations Room' that the IS academy staff that were here setup in case there was a need. Didn't even miss a beat, just threw open the door and went in; luckily there was no one in the room right now. Cassidy shut the door behind us as I strode over to one of the consoles and turned on the portable version image transmission system… not as powerful as the one back at the academy, then turned to the gang. "Everyone, I feel that I'll need your help; however, before this starts, I have to ask that you say nothing about what you hear, see or learn in this room to anyone else, understand?"

My friends looked at me strangely for a moment, yet they nodded. I sent a text with information that was needed for using the IT system, to John and waited. Didn't have to wait long as the system started up fully and an image of my older friend was constructed by the system that was pretty much generating and putting out a holographic image of a person.

Now, the man Jonathan Carter or I call him John for ease of memory, an American in nationality; who's been a friend to me, stood at five foot ten inches in height. He was in his mid-forties as far as I know, he doesn't look all that old, but he ain't young. Doesn't have any grey hair I can tell you! Actually, his hair is dark brown, short and is starting to recede a bit in the front on the left side. With fair white skin color and overall has an average build for your average adult male. John has brown colored eyes that are a little lighter shade than his hair. The other point of note was that his nose is slightly bigger in the bridge section than it would be on most people you see. Now the normal 'dress code' for John is a suit, so following that, he was wearing a white dress shirt with a blue tie, all of that under a dark grey suit. The image took a few seconds to clear and sharpen up. Cassidy stared at John, "Sai, I've seen him before, yet I can't place where. Who is he?" She inquired.

"Oh well, quite possible that you've seen him on TV a few times, he's the current director of the CIA, was the deputy director when I met him." I said nonchalantly.

Got some real quizzical looks when I mentioned what John did and his position in the agency he works in. An awkward silence settled, I broke it by addressing John again, "So John, what's going on to have you come to me?" I asked.

John adjusted his blue tie nervously… Apparently, whatever this 'development' was worrisome for John and likely involved others… doesn't bode well. My older friend then spoke, "Well Sai, this goes beyond my jurisdiction, so I'll be letting another explain the situation…"

A second image began to be built just as John finished. This one was also obviously male at a height of an even six foot. Looked a little older than John, but definitely had the same air of authority. As the image sharpened, could see the short black hair that was thinning in the front of this man's head, still no greying hair though. The man's eyes were hazel blue and a rounder face, but not fat by any means. He had the same skin tone as John did, though he was broader in the shoulders. The guy was also wearing a suit, was black, that was pretty d**n crisp… couldn't spot one wrinkle at all! However, instead of a blue tie, he had a black one and had the rectangles of awards one receives from the military on the left side of his suit coat. The particular award ribbon rectangle this man had was made up of six rows of at least four ribbons a row; probably for services in the military and officer achievements that had been earned. He even had two badges… one was from the US navy I think… other than that I can't say what it means. The second badge was partially covered so I couldn't tell what it was for, but probably navy like the other one. Once the image was completely formed, he glanced around at us all expressionlessly.

"Allow me to introduce you all to Thomas Grans, the deputy director of the National Security Agency." Said John for introduction.

Thomas Grans gaze focused on me, "So, you're Sai Taichi; you're appearance doesn't fit the things that I've heard and read about you. Carter speaks highly of you and thinks you could be very helpful in the situation that's developing." He said dryly.

Hesitating so that I could choose my words carefully. This Thomas Grans of the NSA doesn't sound or look like someone that I want to rub the wrong way if I want to live my semi normal life once I fix the things that the bunny did. "I'll do the best I can and doubtless my friends will do the same. So, if you could inform us about this situation you keep mentioning, then perhaps we can start helping Director Grans." I replied seriously.

Director Grans nodded and began the briefing of the situation that John had come to me for. The problem was quite something and it was clear why there was such an enforced tone of the need of secrecy. An IS unit that was built which was in the testing phase, named the 'Silver Gospel'; went rouge a little over six hours ago. The IS unit that was described to us was a cooperative effort third generation unit that was built and developed by the US and Israel. The pilot was a female that I didn't know, she was going to be the second representative candidate for the USA along with me. We weren't given much information on the pilot as she apparently had nothing to do with this situation.

The big piece of the unit that was an 'advancement' for it, was the AI system or that's what it was considered; doubt the system would be the same as Corinthos or match it. The system was installed to assist the pilot by assessing the situation fast and giving accurate readouts, Corinthos can do the same. The part that perked up my attention, was that they AI could take over the unit's systems and handle the combat situation should the pilot become incapacitated in some way. This IS was capable of flying at supersonic speeds, but requires lots of power, but this thing has a new power source that could go for a long period of time… Like around two days when using moderate power consumption. We weren't told much at all about the armaments or much else about the machine.

With the information that we had been told thus far, I'm glad I insisted that my friend come along. It was obvious that I couldn't do this alone and even with my friends… Questionable if we could do it… Without others to assist. The best option of those who might be able to assist, would be going to Chifuyu and she could pick whichever girl or girls she believed would have the best chance of helping me. Plus, she could get the girls to keep their mouths shut about this whole situation, where I wasn't so sure I could do so. It was clear that the American Government didn't want this incident to become public knowledge and I can't exactly blame them. By what was said, someone had tweaked the AI and made it go rouge. That means someone messed up and there was possible a mole, but that's not for me to get into.

"I've no problem doing this, but I won't be able to do this by myself… Admittedly, I would be more likely killed. To prevent that event from hopefully happening, I think it would be wise to bring others to assist. And before you say no due to secrecy Director Grans…" I looked the man straight in the eye, "Chifuyu Orimura and those she would deem necessary to bring in would not say anything."

John smiled and snickered quietly while Director Grans sighed, "Very well, you may call in Chifuyu Orimura. Is there anything else?"

I nodded, "Yes, could we please get the specs of the Silver Gospel… And I mean the full specs. Would kind of like to know what I'll be going against as I recall you saying anything about the unit's armaments or other system besides the AI. They'll not be carelessly left out for anyone to see, I promise."

Both men accepted the request and sent the files with the information, after that they disappeared and the image transmission system went back to standby mode. Now that we had the specs of the IS that I would be going against, the gang and I took a more detailed look at the data. It didn't take long for me to be glad that I had asked to have that full specs; this machine was nothing to joke around about! For instance, the main weapon of this unit is built into the wings that it has and fires energy from them at the target or targets as this IS can take on single or multiple opponents. It doesn't end there, oh no; the energy that the machine fires, can be in either shot in one direction or just spray in all directions. Means that this IS unlikely has a blind spot… that makes things more problematic in the taking down of this unit. Then the other worrisome feature that stuck out to me, was the energy barrier that this IS is equipped with. Going by the specs, the field it puts out is sturdier than your average IS energy barrier and could take a real beating, or so the data says that it had under gone some harsh testing and had done well.

With the basic issues and facts in mind, I left the gang to keep looking over the data while I went to talk to Chifuyu. It's still morning now… which means… oh God NO! That gathering that Chifuyu had mentioned is probably getting started if it isn't already. Going to my sister means that I'll also be forced to confront the bunny… I really… REALLY don't want to see her right now… but I can't see a way around this. … D**n it! Might as well go and get this over and done with and not drag it out. I changed my direction and began to head towards the private beach that Chifuyu had said this gathering would be occurring at.

It took me almost fifteen minutes to be within hearing distance of the section of beach that was my destination, when I started to catch the sound of voices coming to me. "Who is this woman, Miss Orimura?" came Cecilia's voice.

Would seem I might be too late to have the luck to miss seeing the rabbit… sh*t! "You know, it's basic manners for you to at least introduce yourself?!" Barked Chifuyu.

"Ah, that's such a pain."

… That voice… so… the hasenpfeffer is here as I suspected she would be! … No, calm down… it isn't worth beating the crap out of her… close to it, but no it's not! There would be too many questions asked that I don't want to answer. Just get in, ask Chifuyu to drop by when she's free and get out before I get noticed; that's the plan and if I can do that, I'm golden!

"Okay… Hi everyone, I'm Tabane, the genius. Hello. That's all. That's it." The bunny said.

… What the hell kind of greeting is that!? Apparently, the rabbit still has yet to understand how to act around people, but why I would expect her to have changed in that… I never know, she hasn't in years. The woman doesn't get out of her lab often… if at all, so honestly, she doesn't get around people enough to learn how to interact with them anyway! … I forgotten how torturous being around her can be… I avoid the idea like a plague! Although… got to say, the girls' responses were fairly comical.

"You're Tabane?" asked Rin in astonishment.

"As in Tabane, the Brilliant Scientist that invented and designed the IS?" Queried Charlotte.

"The Tabane Chinonono?" Posed Laura.

The image that the Rabbit has built for herself is stupid. It will doom her in so many ways when some country, organization or group finally get ahold of her. However, if she wants to dig herself a deep grave, then she's more than welcome to do so. I won't be joining her in being so idiotic. By this time, I had come to the cliff overlooking the section of beach; made my way down the path as silent as possible. Was beginning to think that I could pull off my plan and not have to face the bunny at all… but fate has to be whimsical…

"Now everyone look up to the Heavens!" shouted the Hasenpfeffer with glee.

I thought the rabbit was trying to pull something, so I didn't plan to pay any attention… that was until I hear what sounded like a jet aircraft above. Glancing upward, I spotted something shooting down. I reacted on instinct, plastered myself to the rock wall and covered my face with my arms, then steeled myself for whatever was going to come. Felt the impact, and after five seconds I uncovered my face and looked around. My gaze focused on a large silver diamond that had landed… I see the Hasenpfeffer still can't resist using dramatics. Amazingly, I was somehow, still yet to be noticed by anyone… well, I'm not one to waste such good fortune. The Rabbit did a tune to announce her presenting something… like she used to back in the early days.

"This is my little sister Houki's own personal unit, the Akatsubaki!" Said the bunny in a cheery voice.

That caught my attention and I looked back at the silver diamond shaped thing once more. If I get a chance at seeing the rabbit's fourth generation IS design, then I ain't going to refuse! "All of the specs are way above the current models, and it's hand made with love by me, Tabane." She continued.

The way that the hasenpfeffer says that… reminds me of the times she molested me! That sweet voice just is disturbing, sickening and just plain wrong! Still… the IS unit itself wasn't one to scoff at, even by me or the life like doll. But then, neither is my unit when it's fully done nor right now; would doubt the porcelain doll's unit that she's making is to be underestimated. The overall color was red, along with some black and some silver. The bunny… I had to admit, had done good work streamlining the unit, probably gave the IS better speed than what third generations are capable of. I saw no sight of weapons, meaning that they were likely not built into the unit frame, but were separate. The shoulder apparatuses were tall diamond shaped parts and I couldn't tell much more other than that. I was snapped back to the present when the worst case scenario I was dreading, occurred.

"SAI-TAN!" Cried the bunny in a happy tone.

I got the sight of the woman that acquaints me with hell leaping towards me. Reacting on instinct and reflex, I shifted into a forward stance, pulling back my right arm and forming my hand into a fist. As the hasenpfeffer got close to reaching me with her arms outstretched, in the clear sign that she fully intended to hug me. Would have none of that! The bunny long ago, lost any hugging privileges she once had! I sent my right fist forward into the bunny's chest… fairly hard at that and sent her flying backward a couple of feet. Was breathing hard, not from effort, but from the control I was needing to exert to not rush forward and give the rabbit a beating that I would make sure she wouldn't forget anytime soon! The girls were staring at me dumbfounded; Houki gaping at me more than the others, yet she was the one to regain the use of her voice first. "Sai, why did you just do that?!" She asked.

Didn't answer her as my gaze as set on the rabbit, who was sitting up right now, "Ow, gees Sai-tan, why are you so mean to me?" she asked in a hurt voice.

That one question, served as a partial breaking point for me… no more being polite and nice to her… and I had been doing so only a little! "Mean you say, bunny? Well, you would know all about being mean, now wouldn't you? After all, you're mean on a frequent basis… even if you are so ignorant not to know that you are. Don't act like you're innocent of the sh*t that has been happening!" I returned coldly.

The bunny got a stupid look on her face, one that was a confused apologetic kind of look, "Sai, you're not still mad, are you? I mean, look at all the good things you've got to do here. So, it all worked out for the best." Said the rabbit a bit nervously.

… Is she trying to give me a reason to beat the crap out of her multiple times, or is she just a natural at making me want to do such things to her? I was shaking a bit; with the effort I was putting forth to contain my fury at the woman that was no more than feet away from me. "Mad… doesn't begin to describe what I feel Hasenpfeffer, d**n it! But that's beside the point… for now; you're lucky today, you d**n metal eared bunny. I've more pressing matters to attend to; so, I don't have the time to dish out the consequences that you… oh so d**n richly, deserve to be shoved up you're a**!"

I turned and faced Chifuyu, ignoring the girls who were still staring at me in disbelief, "Chifuyu, I have… an issue, that I really need your help on. I can't say more than that here, please come by the operations room that the members of the academy staff have setup, sometime today when you get some free time." I said in a flat, emotionless tone.

Spun around on the spot and began making my way back towards the pathway to the hotel; however, I was stopped before I could get to it by someone grabbing my right arm. Looking at who would be doing that, I found it was Houki holding on to me. I sighed, "Let go Houki… it would be for the best if I leave right now." I stated.

"Sai, whatever is going on, we can help… so, please stay." Pled Houki.

I glanced around and saw, for once, all the girls who normally fight over me were united in their wish to… I believe, help me. Houki's voice made it somewhat harder to ignore them and leave. Nevertheless, they don't understand; me leaving has nothing to do with them and everything to do with the Rabbit being here! Plus, there are other things that need doing; the need to study the Silver Gospel specs, got to find the thing and tune up my unit, just to name a few. I pulled my arm free of Houki's grip and shook my head, "Sorry, not a wise idea; it's nothing against you girls at all. Were I to stay, I would more than likely end out giving a beating to your _sister_ Houki and I can't explain why in a way that you would comprehend. We'll see each other later today I wouldn't doubt." I remarked curtly, before continuing back to the hotel and the operations room.

 **Chapter end.**

 **A/n**

 **There's chapter 11. The battle with the Silver Gospel will be in the next chapter and other stuff that I'll be keeping to myself for now to surprise you readers in the next chapter. As always, please take the time to write a review and tell me what you think of the story to this point. Until the next chapter, (Which I haven't a clue how long it will take) that will be entitled "The Truth"!**

 **GodX**

Thank you for saying that you like what I write. As for Sai having Romance in his future… I'm thinking about it, but not going to start until at least after the next chapter; with whom… haven't decided really.


	12. The Truth

**A/n**

 **Okay, this chapter when I started writing it… I knew it would be long, but it exceeded my expectations in that! This chapter itself is packed with things, a bit of Sai's past, action, a fight, and of course hilarity here and there. Well, enough from me, on with the story.**

Chapter 12

The Truth

I was on my way back to the operations room, fuming and sulking the whole way as I went. This is a habit that I have and it comes up whenever I have to talk with the rabbit, the foul mood is stronger on the occasion that I end out facing the bunny in person. She frustrates me so much now, it's so hard not to be mad and do things to her, but it wouldn't help as it wouldn't change anything. It didn't take me all that long to get back to the operations room… Not the fifteen minutes that it had taken me to find Chifuyu. However, my mood hadn't improved really, so I was sulking still. Entered the room silently and began to walk to where I'd sat previous to going to make my request to Chifuyu. However, I didn't make it to that spot as Cassidy spoke, stopping me, "Sai, what's wrong? You look put out about something."

Stopped where I was, paused, then waved a hand in a placation. What troubles me right now is a subject I've never liked and don't talk about with others. That being namely the bunny and having to face her after three years. The last time I'd seen her, she popped up at Ichika's funeral, though none noticed that she had been there, still I did. Putting on a forced smile, I responded to my friends to get them to drop the subject, "It's nothing to worry about, there's work to be done, so let's get to it."

Matt narrowed his eyes on me, "Sai, that's one of the biggest whoppers that ah've heard in a while. Ya can tell some real tall tales, but this is one of the sorriest attempts of ya telling stories to get others to believe ya."

"Yes, Matt is correct… Even if he has a roundabout way of saying that." Remarked Luther.

Glancing around to see that the faces of all of my friends said they knew I was lying and trying to put off what was bothering me. In fact, all of them had ceased the work of learning about the Silver Gospel and were looking at me. My mental barriers that I use to protect myself, began to be strained. "Like I said, it's nothing to worry yourselves about… my personal problems really, things I'll deal with myself." I said in a flat tone, which was almost mechanical.

"Sai, you know that you can tell us anything and we would not judge you." Commented Olivia.

The mental walls I had built for myself, started cracking at that comment from my French friend. Chifuyu was the only one that knew of the true relationship that I had with the hasenpfeffer and the porcelain doll… And I haven't told her everything. My 'sister' didn't join up with the Infinite Stratos project for the first six to nine months; so, I was alone with those two women for that time. At first, that was fine, both the rabbit and the doll had been nice to me, so I'd thought things would be fine. That was before I began to learn what the two women were really like! There's a reason that the phrase, 'you only get to know what a person is really like when you live with them' exists. The Hasenpfeffer was a perfect example; she didn't leave me alone for very long. It hadn't been much over two months before I learned the bunny was very different behind closed doors. As for the doll, it took her a few more weeks after the rabbit had shown her true self for me to start seeing the difference, which was her showing emotions around me. If not for the marionette, I would have been molested, but… _Alice_ … she had kept the bunny from doing so to me.

So, Chifuyu only knew a part of what the rabbit was truly like when… the bunny wasn't as openly eccentric as she is now. Hence, most wouldn't know what she's really like… when others she isn't closely acquainted with aren't around. Personally, I think it's because the rabbit has a thing for Chifuyu… I don't want to know what it is, and that's why she doesn't want her to drop her like a bad habit. The problem for her and the upside for me, Chifuyu quickly became protective of me. Probably due to my age and that I had no one else other than the bunny and the doll at that time… and they ain't good role models. I've always kept to myself the grief those two women have done and caused to me. At first, I thought it to be a sign of strength, but as time had passed, the experiences had become chains, which I had carried for a long time now.

The continuing stares of the gang were getting to me and the difficulty in my mind was increasing. The silence was affecting me, making the walls I built, threaten to cave in on me. "This isn't… I'm not…" I stuttered, trying to explain myself, but in reality… I was making excuses and I knew it.

"Iya, We're here for you Sai!" Cried Jia and vanishing then shortly appearing near me, she hugged me from behind me, "Don't push us away."

My mental barriers… The walls that had taken time to build up and protect me from emotional and mental pain for years, they were shaking and trembling by this point. I haven't faced parts of my past… And I admit that; my past is a hard one and most of what troubles me now happened in formative and developmental years. Yet, it was Cassidy that delivered the final blow that shattered my defenses, "You've known us for long enough to know that we won't think any less of you, no matter what you might have gone through."

The walls crashed down around me at that one line, for it's true and I couldn't deny it with any of my friends in this room. I couldn't speak, so I nodded instead and pointed to the door to gesture that this discussion be continued in a more private setting. We all left the room and made our way out to the forest behind the hotel, for it fit the privacy needs I had. Once out of the line of sight of the hotel and hearing distance of anyone else, I began telling the story of my past… My full past, not the censored or simplified version, but the complete truth.

I started with the first event that changed the path my life… in a good way in hindsight had been on the day my 'father' had left and abandoned me. Had acquired a number of marks… In particular, four scars on my back stand out to me, mostly because I still have them today. The first, was a foot long and is parallel to my spine, two inches to the left of my spinal cord and beginning a bit above my mid-back. Next two markings, were more noticeable than the first; they formed an X shaped starting just below my shoulders and stretched a foot and a half diagonally downward. The last, was a scar that begins at the back of my left hip and goes diagonally up at a thirty-degree angle and is a foot and a quarter in length. After he had given me the collection of scars that I have on my back… He left the house and never came back again. I'd been left on the floor where I had collapsed after the beating… writhed for a time from the pain, before I had crawled up to my room and wrapped myself up to stop the bleeding.

Then came the second event that completely changed the path my life would have forever… Which was meeting the rabbit and the life like doll.

-flashback-

It had been a week since my 'dad' had gone out the door, though, the man who was supposed to be responsible for me left… I stayed in the house, not because I wished to, but for the reason that I had nowhere else to go and it was familiar to me. Due to being in a 'quiet neighborhood', no one knew that I was the only one in the house now. Plus, around the neighborhood, I was seen as an unintelligent child because I didn't speak to others much if at all. So, most assumed that I wasn't able to speak at all or didn't know how yet. Since I was able to look after and take care of myself, which did include making simple meals, I was okay.

This evening had been like the last few, eat food, then wash up and tend to the scars that I had forming now, and end with reading books in bed. Books were the one escape that I had now, the one way that I could forget what my life had become recently. So, after I had eaten and had returned to my room and books that I had. Tonight I was reading a book by one of my favorite authors, Jules Verne; in particular, I was reading Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. My attention was caught by the sound of the door opening and voices, was the last things I thought I would hear. Heck, thought I was imagining things at first, but as the voices continued, it was plain that I wasn't. I got out of bed and snuck towards the sounds with the book I had been reading clutched to my chest like some sort of shield. Once I had crept downstairs and hid behind the doorway to the living room. Looked around the corner and to my surprise, I found two women that I didn't know standing there.

The first of the two women looked like she was in her mid-teens, like fifteen or sixteen in age and stood at around five feet tall. Even if she was in her teens… she had a big chest… definitely bigger than anyone else I've seen in that area. As the woman was glancing around the room I caught the sight of her slightly lighter than neutral purple colored eyes and the same colored hair. Her hair was straight and long, extending to almost her hips. The clothes that this young woman was wearing… made me wonder a great deal about her… I've never seen people wear an outfit exactly like the one she was. Not to say that I haven't seen what she was wearing… seen some pictures in books, though not the particular coloration that she had. The purple haired lady had a dress that maids would wear, but it was blue instead of black and had a few pieces that weren't what I've read about. The final piece, was the two metal things on her head that had hinges in the middle… they kind of look like rabbit ears the longer I looked at them.

I glanced over at the second woman and was just as mystified as I was with the first one. This female was, I would guess an inch taller than the other, but a little over five feet. She was a bit thinner than the first girl, but also had a big chest. The second girl looked to be in her teens like the other, yet older, around seventeen or perhaps eighteen. She had very pale toned skin… it was close to white… wonder if she doesn't get out much and so doesn't take in a lot of sunlight. Her blonde hair was quite pretty though; it was shorter than the other lady, only went to her shoulders. Noticed that she had light blue eyes that matched the bow on the top of her head. Like the other woman, the second one wore clothes that weren't what others would wear. She had a dress that was sky blue went to her knees and had puffy sleeves. Had another piece of clothing over the dress, but I don't know what it's called… looked kind of like short overalls. She also had a white apron… I think, over her lower section of her front. Then she was in hiking boots.

Both women looked quite odd to me, and I've no idea who they were or why they even came into the house! If they're thieves, then their outfits really made you hesitate and question them! I shook my head and turned away to go back to my room. Maybe if I hide from them, they'll go away and leave me alone. Didn't get more than a few steps when suddenly something popped up in front of me.

"Hello hello hello! Do you live here little boy?" said a female voice.

I jumped… literally, almost a foot in the air. Directly before me was the purple haired woman and she was smiling at me. My heart was racing at her sudden appearance; it had been like she had just materialized. Stumbling backward in shock at the appearance of one of the strangers, I seriously began to wonder. How did she do that?! How did she just appear in front of me? I didn't see or hear her move. But as I move backwards, I felt myself come into contact with something else… that felt like fabric. When I gazed upward, I saw that I had bumped into the blonde girl, her face had no expression on it. My eyes were wide… like a picture I've seen of a deer with headlights shining in their eyes. By this point I was beyond scared, I was terrified right now. There are two women that I don't know in the house, just feet away from me… and the last 'adult' I had been around, hurt me badly… what's to say they won't do the same?! Clutching my book to me and didn't say anything… speaking to adults had always gotten me into trouble previously. Whenever I spoke to my 'father', it made him mad and would end out with me getting hurt normally.

"Are you alright?" asked the blonde in a flat voice.

Sunk to the floor shaking in fear, trying to not start crying in terror. Unfortunately, within the last year, my father had gone to lengths of instilling me with the fear of adults… he had done a good job of that, for I was more than just scared of them. I hate the man who's supposed to be my parent and care about me and for me so, I was glad he was gone. That didn't change the point that I'm still scared of him and I think there are adults that are like him. What if these two women are like him?! I was so scared that I started quoting my favorite stories. The line that came to my mind happened to come from the same book that was clutched to my chest. "The sea is only the embodiment of a supernatural and wonderful existence. It is nothing but love and emotion; it is the 'Living Infinite' …The globe began with sea, so to speak; and who knows if it will not end with it? In it is supreme tranquility." I muttered to myself, shutting my eyes.

"Ah! That's a line from Jules Verne 20000 Leagues Under the Sea, have you read that?"

My eyes shot open and I looked up at the purple haired woman who had spoken the question and stared. She hadn't… gotten mad at me for talking differently than children my age? I nodded slowly. "H-he's my favorite a-author." I said quietly.

There was silence for a bit, before the Blonde spoke, "As there is a heavy storm outside, would it be alright if we stay until it passes?"

Her voice was still flat as could be… quite something really, never heard anyone speak like that. These two as odd as they were, didn't seem like they would do anything to hurt me. Still as they didn't seem to be bad people, I nodded. Once they went off to find a place to sleep, I retreated to my room. Another hour passed before I was able to fall asleep, as my mind had thoughts bouncing around it, which kept me awake for a time.

When I Woke up the next morning, I snuck downstairs and found out that the two women from last night, hadn't been a dream in anyway. In fact, the blonde one was in the kitchen, making breakfast. She simply looked at me for a moment and then went back to what she was doing. The purple haired one came in a little later and after eating, they were getting ready to leave. However, before they headed for the door, they turned back to me.

"Hey, do you want to come with us? You are smart and could help us, so what do you say?" Said the purple haired lady.

"Indeed, there is nothing here for you." That was from the blonde.

Leave the house and go with these two women that I only met last night? The blonde was right that I had nothing here really, but this house is all I know. "Who are you and what do you two do?" I asked Quietly.

The purple haired lady smiled broadly and the blonde's… Face didn't change at all… was there something wrong with her face so that it couldn't show expression? "Well, my name is Tabane Shinonono and this is Alice Masta. And we're going to change the world!" Said the purple haired girl, announcing her answer like it was some kind of revelation. The blonde just nodded.

Change the world? I mulled over the choice in this. I wanted to do more than I was doing here, to challenge myself and climb to greater heights. … Now was as good a time as any to do that, I guess. Nodding to the two women, I said, "Okay sure, I'm Sai. I'll go with you. I don't want to stay here anymore and I want to see how far I can go."

Tried to sound confident, but that's not as easy for me as it once was, thanks to my male sire. The purple haired lady beamed and started jumping up and down while the blonde… did nothing. So, within thirty minutes, I was leaving the one place I had known, no matter how bad it could get, it was home. Had no idea where I was going to go or what I would do, but at least it would be different from what I had left behind.

-Flashback end-

Once I had followed the bunny and the doll, things had started looking up. Back then, the bunny had been nicer and the doll didn't show emotion around me. The amazing part to me, the access to information the two women had and through them, that I now had, was awesome! The things that I was taking in and learning… Had been beyond my dreams before. The bunny, doll and I had traveled for a few weeks, until we came to an island to build a place where we could do work without being disturbed by others. I'd learned rather quick that the two women were different from one another in personality. The Rabbit was a dreamer and could somehow translate what she imagined into reality, she is usually upbeat and was oblivious of the effects of her actions in relation to others or much at all. In contrast, the porcelain marionette appeared to lack emotion; however, she was a practical realist and looked to the empirical results in the work that she did. I was somewhere in between of the two or that's what I would consider myself.

We had begun a truly amazing idea, we called it Infinite Stratos and the three of us believed it could change the world in a way will make the world for the better. Less than a year after we started, Chifuyu came into the lab, brought in by the hasenpfeffer. The rabbit knew her, didn't ask as to how they knew one another, but by that point, we had already started constructing the two prototypes IS cores and needed pilots. Chifuyu had been really surprised to see me there, I'd been close to seven at the time, but still was a kid. I had come a long way in the months I'd spent with both the bunny and marionette. Wasn't the scared child that they had met on a rainy night, I was more confident and had started standing up for myself, even with the rabbit and doll. Back to the point, Chifuyu had shouted at the bunny… accused her of kidnapping and some other stuff that I hadn't understood at the time. Honestly, it was pretty funny to watch the two women argue with each other; even if I didn't fully understand why they were. Knew the meaning of the words said, just not the implications of them.

Gave my friends a brief summary of the environment that I had worked in during the development of the IS. Then I got to when I left with the assistance of Chifuyu, a week before Infinite Stratos was introduced to the world. Before arriving at the house that Chifuyu had… No idea how she got the place, anyway, I'd little comprehension of what a family was supposed to be like. After all, the only example I knew was the man that had abused me and then abandoned me. Then both the hasenpfeffer and the doll had taken me in and had 'looked after me', which meant that I did a good portion of the 'house chores' kind of jobs. Had met Ichika, who had been excited to meet another boy in the same age range he was in. Ichika had even thought that my developed vocabulary was awesome and didn't shun me at all. It had only taken a few days for me to acclimate to living in the house with Chifuyu and Ichika, before it felt like I had been living there for years.

Learned a few months after arriving that a friend of Ichika had left due to 'unknown circumstances'. He never found out the circumstances… Though by the descriptions he gave, now that I think about it, fits Houki. It's possible that she is the one Ichika had been talking about, but I can't be sure with what I know. So, we started after that spending a great deal more time around one another. Also had begun high school a year after coming to live with Chifuyu… And that had been a rather difficult experience. It didn't help that the rabbit would pop in at random intervals and times to see Chifuyu and me. She also took a liking to Ichika and would get rather clingy with him and me. The times the rabbit would appear were annoying as she gave no fair warning at all, but then, she was rather spontaneous. How she came to visit without being spotted or stopped because of being recognized after she introduced the IS to the world, I'll never know. I kept talking about what had happened to me over the time before I had met the gang.

When I finished my tale, my head drooped and silence filled the air. I've told no one much of the details that I had gotten into, with what I'd said to the gang. Didn't know what they would think… yes, it's unlikely that they would hold what I've said against me, but I just don't know. I've done things that I'm not proud of, unknowingly committed crimes with the bunny and the doll. The lack of sound continued for a few minutes, it was a hand on either shoulder that caught my attention. I looked up and saw the hand on my right shoulder belonged to Cassidy and upon turning to my left, saw that the one on my left was Matt's.

"You were doing the best you could, you were a child back at the time, so you didn't know what would happen." Said Cassidy.

The others said things that were in line with what Cassidy had said. … Again, I haven't the faintest idea what I did or how I was so lucky to have friends like I do! But d**n it, I sure am glad that I have them! The reason that I don't go into details about my past, would be that I hate reliving the events… My nightmares do that for me already. Plus, I really don't want the pity of others, to me that felt like admitting I'm weak and have others feel sorry for me. Yet that's not what my friends were doing for me and I knew it, they were listening and offering comfort… And pretty much none have done that. Offered pity and false understanding of my situation absolutely, but actually sympathizing… That's only happened once before now, like it was with the gang, and that had been with Ichika. Chifuyu cared that I existed and I'm grateful for her doing what she has and have fond memories of the days that I lived with her and Ichika. However, Chifuyu had been busy normally, whether it had been with school or something else, so I never fully opened up to her… respect her, but not confiding in her.

I had been eleven, close to graduating high school, when I had confided in Ichika about what my life had been like before arriving at the place that Chifuyu had and looked after Ichika and myself. He had listened to me and had believed me… But by that time, we had become the best of friends and so, we told each other things that we wouldn't others. After having paid attention to my story, I heard his and sadly, it wasn't much better than what I had gone through. Chifuyu and he had also been abandoned by their parents, though he didn't say why his parents did. Chifuyu had been a great person and instead of thinking about herself, decided to look after her younger brother.

… It had been Matt and then shortly after him, Cassidy that had befriended me that had literally saved my life, even if I hadn't known that at the time. I say that because, if not for both of them and the gang as a whole, then I would've never been able to have taken Ichika's death and been able to accept it instead of falling into a deep, unescapable depression. My friends had been and still are my lifeline in crisis when it comes! I sniffled a bit, "Thanks all, don't know what I could've done to have such good friends, but I'm glad you're here for me!" I choked out.

The next thing I realize, felt myself wrapped up in an embrace that came collectively from all of the gang. Usually, I would feel sicken and the desperate need to get out of such a gesture, yet, for once, it felt warm and right. Probably due to the fact of whom it was coming from, is why the hug felt different from those before now. In response, I smiled… A real genuine smile, which for me are rare. I felt as if a huge heavy weight had been lifted off my shoulders that I had been carrying for a long time. We stayed like this for a little while, before the task at hand came back to mind and so all of us, headed back to the operations room and got back to work with a renewed focus and vigor.

The others brought me up to speed on what they had learned about the Silver Gospel. The more information that was brought to light, the more I wondered if either the bunny or the doll had a hand in this IS's creation. Granted, it's possible that the development of some of these systems were just chance… But there were particular systems and features that resembled a few from the two prototype ISs systems and abilities, not the exact same or matching quality… Still too close to be random. The current issue, was this unit's stealth capabilities, they were making it very hard to locate this machine, even for me with the current information that we had. If a way couldn't be found to pin point where this machine was, then this mission ends before we've really gotten started.

"I know the specs said that the anti-detection system was efficient, but there has to be some way to find this thing!" Commented Cassidy with exasperation.

We kept trying to come up with a way, to either crack the system encryption on the Silver Gospel or some way of tracking it, but after ten minutes, none of us could think of anything. "Sacré Bleu! Even with satellite cameras, this IS is escaping notice! The GPS system isn't providing anything of use either." Exclaimed Olivia with frustration.

All of us were nodding in unwanted agreement… Yet… What Olivia said sparked something in me. GPS System? … … OF COURSE! How could I have missed something so simple?! Every IS, no matter the generation, have a simple program to determine its location at any time. It does so, by sending requests on a low priority channel to the GPS system network according to the hemisphere it was in. The satellite nearest the IS unit will transmit the location back to the machine, and there is a short term record in the GPS system Server. With the speed that this thing has been likely traveling with its capabilities, it would be making requests fairly frequently and consistently. Plus, there were few ISs in the area as of late that we couldn't identify and rule out as the target our search!

With what my 'Eureka' moment had presented to me, my fingers quickly began to type on the keyboard at speeds that most would have their jaws dropped and slack at. At least the chatting of the gang faded as I kept typing away. The reason that I was typing so furiously, was that I was… Letting myself into the network that the GPS system runs off of. That's… Technically, not allowed and so I would be committing a crime right now, but as long as I'm not caught getting into the network… I see no problem. The challenge is that this particular network server, its security wasn't weak… quite the setup really. My method of entry, was making it look like I was an outside server that was asking for information so I could avoid raising any flags to alert operators who might be looking. My hacking skills are hard to match, and so it was extremely unlikely that I would be caught, still best to be safe, rather than sorry and stupid. It took me sixty-five seconds to deal with the security the network had and making sure that there was nothing to tip off any that someone was accessing the GPS system without permission.

"Um… Sai what'cha be doing friend?" Asked Matt.

"What Olivia said, reminded me of a simple point that we missed. All IS units determine their own location by sending requests to the Global Positioning System on low priority channels that go unnoticed. The system keeps short term records with in the network server that the GPS information goes through." I replied.

"Okay, that's good to know, but how would we get that information? I very much doubt that server that you particularly mentioned is one that's open to the public." Inquired Luther.

I shook my head, "No it isn't Luther, not in the slightest, very elaborate and strong security system. However, we need to find this machine, so I see nothing wrong with borrowing the server's services, since none will know about it." I retorted.

Brought up a display of the stream of data that I had coming in now from the GPS main servers. Cassidy was the first to speak after seeing what I displayed, "Sai, something tells me, that were others to know what you're doing right now, you'd be in a lot of trouble; especially, with those who asked you to help with this. This is considered…"

"Black Hat Hacking or illegal hacking; yes, I'm well aware of what people call this idea and the very bad and well-earned reputation it has Cassidy. Nevertheless, it's a skill I have and will use when I see a reason and a need to do so to get the job done." I returned.

"Iya, this is so cool!" Blurted Jia.

There was silence for a bit, then I chuckled, "Thanks Jia, nice to have someone appreciate the skill, most don't."

Jia's outburst, seemed to act as a release for everyone else. Cassidy smiled and shook her head and began typing on the terminal she was sitting at. Luther had pretty much the same reaction, though his was harder to see. Olivia and matt were grinning as they began to look over the specs of the Silver Gospel again. I used the IS's ID to try to narrow down the list of requests that had been made in the last twenty-four hours. Didn't expect much from that, so I was surprised when the ID brought up the particular set of requests that I was looking for.

The Silver Gospel had apparently started in the country of Israel, not in a city, middle of nowhere really… Probably a laboratory if I were to guess. It then, had begun for some reason, to travel eastward after going south and reaching the ocean… Can't really say why, there's too little information to determine that. By the location points that came from the records, Cassidy, Luther and I plotted the course this IS took and it was kind of odd. The unit was going east, once it had gotten to the ocean, then it was almost directly east. I filed the suspicions I was having on the course that this IS was taking into the back of my mind and continued to go through the list of location requests. It took a few more minutes to draw out the complete flight as of almost thirty minutes ago. If the Silver Gospel continues on the direction it had been, which had been a near straight line, then it would come within a reasonable distance to where we were tomorrow late mid-morning. By the time Cassidy, Luther and I had constructed the course that had been traveled thus far, a post came in to say that a request from the IS in question was being received. Apparently, the Silver Gospel was asking the GPS where it was right now… Sweet! Don't know how we can get information more current than this!

Was waiting for the info to come in, but the sound of the door sliding open and footsteps coming in. However, didn't turn around as I was still waiting for the reply from the server I was patched into. After ten seconds, the information that I was waiting for came in and we now had the location of the Silver Gospel. Plotted with this most recent data point, it proved the assumption that the IS was heading east to… Wherever it was going. With that settled, I turned to see that those who had entered the room were Chifuyu and the girls… Along with the d**n cotton f**king tailed a**ed rabbit. Don't know how she slipped in, nor do I really care; I would much rather have her kicked out of the room, were it up to me… Doubt it will be.

Chifuyu's gaze locked on me, "Well then Sai, time for you to start explaining what's going on with whatever it is that you need help handling." She stated.

I nodded in response to Chifuyu, "Yes, I suppose it is, but first a fact that all in the room need to know and take seriously. What I, and my friends are 'handling' as you put it Chifuyu, isn't a subject to be spoken of outside this room. As it happens, have been asked to keep our mouths shut about this, by the director of the Central Intelligence Agency and the deputy director of the National Security Agency, both of the US government. So, this is serious business people!" I said.

There was dead silence filling the room at my statement. "So, if any have a problem with being tight lipped about things, now would be the time to back out." I spoke again.

"What?! But how could you know anyone from those organizations?!" Demanded Cecilia in surprise.

I paused, I really didn't want to go into any detail of the incident that John helped me out of, yet, if I did, there's a chance that I could get an answer from the Hasenpfeffer as to why she did that to me. Never had gotten anything from her about that debacle, no thanks OR please. Nary an explanation as to what she did or the mess she had shoved onto me, that came after the fact. All of that, which she didn't give me a choice in doing upon the agreement that was made between us before the incident had started. The deal had been that should I clean the mess, then the bunny wasn't to get me into things that involve her or ruin my life from then onward. Of course, she hadn't kept her word… Don't know why I even thought she would uphold her promise, she hasn't for years.

"Well… was involved in some bad business… not by choice I assure you…" I stopped for a moment, long enough to send a glare in the rabbit's direction, before I continued. "Because of that business, I've gotten to know some interesting people. Please don't ask for more detail, I don't want to go into any… an experience I would love not to remember." I said.

Sent another angry glare at the bunny, who was looking a bit worried at the looks I was giving her. Chifuyu looked between the hasenpfeffer and myself for a couple of seconds, then got an expression of dawning comprehension and gave a wonderfully venomous glare to the bunny. I doubt Chifuyu knows exactly what the incident involved, but it was clear she understood enough to know that the rabbit had done something to get me into serious trouble… Chifuyu takes that fairly personally, the protective older sibling coming into play I think.

I cleared my throat to regain everyone's attention. "So, as no one has exited the room, I take that to mean none have a problem with keeping any information you hear in this room, to yourselves and not spill any of it to others, correct?" I posed.

Receiving the affirmative, I began giving the explanation of the situation that was developing with the Silver Gospel. I went over some of the important points, such as the IS not having a physical pilot and a bit on its origins. Curtailed the course of the Silver Gospel as we had put together from the GPS records that had been acquired. Cassidy gave a rundown of the specs of the Silver Gospel including; weapons, defenses, and basic abilities. The girls had various looks on their faces, most were sporting worry or apprehension.

Amidst the discussion that ensued, the question of who would go came up. I had a spot in the action as this was my responsibility since I had been asked to take care of this. But I'm not dumb enough to think I could do this job alone… even if my unit was fully operational, which it isn't, it would be a challenge for me. I needed another to help me in taking down the Silver Gospel, period. We were weighing options of who could be the best choice to assist me; for me, I was going between Cecilia and Laura. Cecilia with her IS, had good power and range, though lacks the speed that would be very helpful in this. On the other hand, Laura's IS had good defense, a long range gun, but also didn't have the speed that would provide an edge in this battle.

Yet the discussion was interrupted by the woman who annoys and frustrates me so much, "Hey Chi-chan, Sai-tan, I have a plan and it's… printing. So, where's the printer?" asked the rabbit.

My right hand was halfway to hitting the rabbit's head in the form of a hard chop, but I stopped myself and forced my hand back to my side. I growled, "No one asked what you thought, hasenpfeffer. So, do us all a favor and shut it!"

"What are you even talking about Tabane?" Asked Chifuyu.

Why does Chifuyu even ask her, it only encourages her oddities. The bunny got a beaming smile, "It's time for the Akatsubaki to shine!"

I sighed with the excitement that the rabbit was showing, I've forgotten how she used to do this often enough that the marionette and I would make the habit to avoid her when she was in this kind of mood. I'll likely regret asking this, but I will ask anyway. "What's this Akatsubaki and why is it the time for it to shine, hasenpfeffer?"

The bunny smile at me, which irked me. "Silly Sai-tan, Akatsubaki is the first fourth generation IS that is hand made by me for my little sister, Houki!"

Gritted my teeth at being call silly by the d**n rabbit. So, this Akatsubaki is the name she gave the IS unit she designed… and as usual, she disregards what the doll and I do and our work. My unit, Freedom, would be considered a fourth generation IS or on par with one from the fourth generation… when it's finished, could do better perhaps. Don't doubt the porcelain doll is building her own unit or is finished with it and is testing.

The bunny continued, "It's specs are above the current generation models…" She then went into unnecessary detail of why the IS unit she built was so good. Her irritating habit and knack of boasting was grating on my nerves as I was forced to listen. Grudgingly, I had to say that Houki and the IS that was being described would be the best choice to help me in this job. After hearing the hasenpfeffer talk for two minutes, I had enough, "Alright bunny! You've made your point, now close your mouth!" I snapped back at the purple haired woman.

"Right then, the job will be done by Sai and Houki; she drives and he shoots." Said Chifuyu in the air of command.

I waved a hand in acceptance, knowing that arguing wouldn't help in this right now. "Yeah sure, got it." I replied.

Houki agreed, though she seem somewhat distracted by something that only she knew about. We separated for the remainder of the day to prepared for the job tomorrow.

-Scene Change-

Have you ever had an experience that you dread, and wish wouldn't happen; but you know it needs to. Well, that's what I'm doing right now, am on my way to go see the one female that I wanted to have the company of the least… If any have to ask why… Then they haven't been here when I started this tale, clearly. The bunny and I have vastly different views when it comes to people around us and just people in general. I care about what might happen in the upcoming operation and the Rabbit cares as much as the average person would about a rat's a**. With Houki as my work partner, wasn't entirely sure how this would work out in the end. I myself, already knew what I was getting into enough to know what I needed to do; however, I don't know if Houki really does. Going against the Silver Gospel could possibly get one, if not both of us hurt or the worst case scenario, get killed. The best way to narrow those chances of bad things happening is to prepare correctly. I don't like the bunny, but I'm willing to put aside my feelings about her to try and get the rabbit to comprehend the danger that her sister is going to be in. Houki's life very well may depend on the IS unit the hasenpfeffer made and would adjust; she needs to do it right!

Found the bunny around the temple behind the hotel and she was doing adjustments to the IS she made for Houki. And the bunny I saw, was doing said adjustments at a very quick pace… And likely not looking over her work. It's one of the shortcomings she has, not taking the time to go back and look over and check her work. The hasenpfeffer would always excuse herself by saying her work is perfect and so, doesn't need reviewing. However, her work I knew with the case record that I can recall, was around thirty-five to forty-five percent chance of not doing what she says it will… she won't admit that but that's beside the point. It was too much of a margin of error! So, I rest my case! My former roommate who was in her unit, was the first to notice me, "Sai, what are you doing here?" she asked.

Smiling at Houki before I answered her, "Oh well, I came around here… so that, perhaps I could have a word with… your _sister_." I said in a calm voice… wasn't easy.

The rabbit looked to me and my smile vanished. Pointing to her, I said, "You… and I need to have a talk… it would be better if it were done in private… So, come."

The bunny and I went a distance off so that Houki wouldn't hear us talking. I faced the Rabbit and glared at her, "Bunny…" I got out.

"Aw Sai-tan, call me by my name."

I grimaced, "No! I see no reason to call you by name anymore. But I'm not here to deal with the issues that I've collected with you. Make no mistake, I detest what you've done in the recent years. You pulled crap that were it any other person, would've end out in prison for most of their remaining life bare minimum, if not for the rest of their life. Then you use others to get yourself out of suffering the consequences!"

Pausing, I took a deep breath before I continued, "I haven't forgotten what you did a year and a half ago… hacking into the Pentagon and then messing around. It was just plain wrong rabbit!"

The hasenpfeffer seemed clueless at what I was referring to. I got up right in her face and pinned the woman with my glare, "Were you really so clueless and dumb to think that such an action wouldn't be looked into thoroughly?! You broke in, within a little over five minutes! Not just anyone can do that stunt!"

Backed off a bit and ground my teeth with the frustration and anger at what had come next, I managed to control myself, "Then… you come to me; one of the few that can stand to be around you or be willing to do something for you, before you abused that privilege. You call me, tell me nothing about what you did and ask me to clean up the 'mess' that resulted from what you pulled. Honestly… why didn't you just throw me in front of a d**n speeding bus hauling above lawful highway speeds, it would've been quicker!"

The hasenpfeffer was looking a bit nervous by now, "But Sai, it wasn't meant to be a bad thing… you're just so good and fixing things, so…"

I was shaking with barely contained fury, "Not a bad… fixing thing…" I took a moment to calm down, "You know what, it's not worth reprimanding you right now. The reason I'm here, is to try and get you to see the big picture and make sure you take some things into account, rabbit. So, I'll get to the point, you have made it clear that you don't care about anyone other than yourself much at all over the years. But for once, think about another before yourself, do the adjustments on Houki's IS right, AND double check them before you call it good!" I had stated the last sentence firmly to make sure it wasn't missed while I held her gaze. "Your sister's life is going to depend on that machine you built, make sure that it's working the best it possibly can!" I state with finality.

"Why are you badgering me Sai-tan?" the hasenpfeffer whined, "You know I build great things perfectly."

Taking a few deep breaths, keeping myself from attacking the woman in front of me was very difficult. With logic in the front of my mind, I replied, "I'm not saying that I doubt your building capabilities, I'm reminding you to check over your work before calling it done and ready bunny. You've a habit of rushing things and not checking over what you do to make sure things work right."

The rabbit jumped at me with a smile that I knew all too well. Took a leaf out of Chifuyu's responses and grabbed the bunny's face and held her at arm's length to prevent her from hugging me in any way. "Aw Sai-tan, you're worried about Houki-chan! That's so nice of you. Let's hug to affirm our love for wonderful little Houki-chan!" cried the annoying woman.

She was pushing forward towards me with greater insistency, but I wouldn't let her do as she pleased. Grunting before I glared at the woman, "Let's get a few things straight hasenpfeffer; first, how I feel about and see Houki, is my business and none of your concern. Second, I'm reminding you to take the time to check your work as you always were impatient and so would skip the important step of checking your work and overlook things that can come back and cause trouble. Then third and most importantly, you got no hugging privilege with me and have a great deal to do before I even consider giving them back to you!" I growled, "Your sister's life is going to be on the line, don't let your impatience screw her over!"

-Scene Change-

It was the next morning and the day of the mission to deal with the Silver Gospel and put it down. The interesting thing, I got decent sleep last night. For the last three months, there has been contributions to sleep deprivation, mostly because classmates vying for attention until they're forced to obey curfew and doing college work. So, it's a bit of a rare of a thing for me to get the amount and quality of sleep lately. Now, I was on the beach that I had found Chifuyu yesterday, waiting for Houki to show up, so that we can start the mission of handling the Silver Gospel. The sooner that we take care of the Silver Gospel, the better… at least I'll feel a lot more at ease when that machine is shut down and not out for a flight.

The sound of footsteps approaching caught my attention and I turned around to see it was Houki coming up to where I was. However, that first look lasted a while as my sight locked on to Houki as she was wearing a different pilot suit that I've become accustom to seeing with her and the other first year girls. It was still the same design as before, but instead of the dark blue color that could almost be considered grey, Houki's suit was white, as were her socks. Even if the only real difference was the color… the difference was more noticeable. With the white color… it seemed to emphasis her figure, specifically on her chest and hips… which as I had seen before now. But with the emphasis on her chest, made it unmistakable that she wasn't small in the slightest… between a D and an E as I seen when we met. Yet the same collection of genes gave the bunny the voluptuous chest she's got… like an F or so. With that example in mind, who knows how much Houki could still grow? Then Houki's hips… Well, my former roommate had an hourglass figure that was still developing… And that's something to think about… Increasing in the sizes for her… hmm. Probably the results of her doing kendo training… Yes, Houki is fit and I couldn't deny it… more so seeing her now.

This morning, Houki was wearing the normal green ribbon along with her pilot suit and had her hair tied up in the hairdo that she had most days. Looking at my former roommate at this point… I have to admit that Houki is very pretty. … Like I've said, it's not that I'm not interested in girls my own age or older. But due to a perverted hasenpfeffer and sisterly marionette… well, I have problems creating close, lasting relationships with females. What a wonderful ' _older sister_ ' Houki has, doesn't she? Doomed a friendship with the guy she shows to have an interest in, aka me, to be very hard.

"Morning Houki, hope you're ready for the operation today." I said in greeting to Houki.

She nodded to my greeting and smiled, "Yes, I'm ready for this. Now that I think about it, it will be just you and me with this mission." She said confidently yet with a tone of happiness.

My thought processes slammed on the breaks and screeched to a slow crawl as I stared at the girl I called a friend. Knew her to be dependable and level headed and have good self-control… she was disproving that picture of her with how she was acting currently. Yes, Houki is normally confident, but this… It doesn't feel right. Houki is acting like she's almost invulnerable and can do anything, that's more than self-confidence, that's just being and ignorant idiot. It's causing her to think recklessly and that won't end well! "Glad to hear that you're ready, just be sure to understand that this is no competition or class match. The mission of taking out the Silver Gospel is a serious matter! A mistake could end out with one of us getting hurt… Please keep that in mind." I commented in response to Houki's 'new' mood in hopes that she would snap out of whatever brought this on.

Instead of Houki focusing on the task at hand like she would do every time before now and that I had come to know while we had been roommates… She giggled? If that was to lessen my worry, then it didn't set my mind at ease at all! "You don't need to worry Sai." Houki replied.

Don't need to worry huh? I can't say that I agree with that view right now. My sense of foreboding about what could happen during the next few hours, was increasing with how Houki was presenting herself. She continued, "The two of us will be able to handle this rogue IS."

… This girl who looks exactly like Houki, but isn't her, is really starting to creep me out. She's… Good God! She's beginning to show qualities that the rabbit does! Please Lord, say it isn't so! Don't let Houki turn into a person like the hasenpfeffer is! Houki is too nice a girl to waste on becoming like her dumb and outright annoying older sister. She can do SO much better than the rabbit… And I can guarantee that… As one of the two that know the bunny in a way no others, even her family do, I can say that. I sighed rubbing my temples with my right hand, "It's nice that you are confident. And I'm not doubting that we can handle the Silver Gospel, it's doing so in a way that neither of us get injured or hurt. The specs on that IS aren't to be taken lightly. Honestly, it's like you're a different person than you usually are ever since you got that IS unit from your… _sister_."

Houki blushed at my remark, "Oh, that's not really the case, I'm the same as I have always been."

Really?! The same as always? Could've fooled me. Houki smiled at me… Holy crap… She's really cute when she blushes and smiles! Going to have to watch myself Going forward, this is getting more than just awkward! Shook my head and focused. We activated our units and then began the annoying idea of waiting for others to give us the 'final briefing' and the green light to go and get the job done. Thankfully, didn't have to wait all that long, just a couple of minutes. Chifuyu came in on an open channel so that both Houki and I could hear her, "Taichi, Shinonono, do you read?"

"Coming through crystal clear ma'am." I replied without missing a beat.

Houki adopted a more serious look at hearing Chifuyu, and our teacher began the final briefing. Meanwhile, a private channel opened for me, "Sai, it's Cassidy, you getting me?" My friend asked.

I nodded slightly, as if I was agreeing to Chifuyu as she was going over things and asking if we understood what she was say. But in reality, I was showing Cassidy that I was hearing her and for her to continue. My friend continued, "The more I look over the data that we have on this IS… the more I believe something's off in this."

Nodding again as I agreed with her; the Silver Gospel with its assist AI system, shouldn't have gone rogue. After reading the specs, I had seen that there were a number of fail safes that would prevent the system from taking over unless there was a desperate need… Especially when there wasn't a pilot in the IS. It was that point that hadn't made complete sense to me, and I couldn't figure out how the present situation could've developed. Cassidy spoke again, "I'm beginning to think that someone is responsible for this occurring and the others agree." She said.

I moved my head up and down slightly as I completely agreed with the assumption that Cassidy had. This situation had the signs of sabotage, definitely not a random event or an accident. Was snapped out of my thoughts when I heard Houki speak, "Miss Orimura, should I provide assistance if I can?" She asked.

I stared at the girl across from me with apprehension. The excited tone in which Houki had asked Chifuyu if she should assist me… and here I thought there wasn't a way for me to be even more creeped out. I'm not what many would call paranoid, but I do tend to be suspicious of others, especially when someone that I've been around starts acting different than they normally do. Chifuyu's reply came after a short pause, which made me believe that she noticed the unexpected tone that Houki had used. "Yes that's fine, should the need arise."

Houki's smile widen at the answer. … It can't just be me that sees this, Houki is acting like a… I would say a giddy and giggling high school girl, but that's what she is, so that wouldn't quite say it. She definitely wasn't being her normal self… Perhaps that d**n bunny of a sister of hers had an influence on her… Hope not. I then heard the voice of Cassidy again, "Sai… Be careful on this, this Shinonono girl is being really overconfident. I've seen the results of pilots that are overconfident enough to know it doesn't go well for them."

"Trust me, clearly obvious, but thanks for the confirmation that I wasn't the only one seeing it." I muttered in answer, so that only Cassidy heard.

The briefing came to an end and so, that left Houki and myself to start off to where the Silver Gospel will be with it staying on the course it's been taking. Both Houki and I lifted off the ground, our machines hovering five feet off the ground, before slowly rising. We gained altitude and when we reached five hundred feet up in the air, we picked up forward speed. Within a few minutes, Houki and I had entered Supersonic flight and maintained that on course for the intersection point when our path would cross paths with the Silver Gospel. Focused in on the job at hand, letting stray thoughts and worries go away from my mind.

Houki and I flew along for about thirty minutes, before we entered the area where we would likely intersect and bump into the rogue IS. Both of us started scanning the skies and water for signs of the machine in question, however, there were none that I could see. This was odd, the Silver Gospel had thus far been many things, but above all, it has been consistent and methodical. The course it had traveled had been almost a straight line, nearly no deviation, while at a marginal range of speed that was consistent. Yet, Houki and I haven't seen a single glimpse of the unit.

"There it is!" Called Houki.

I gazed over in the direction that Houki indicated and saw an object heading in our direction. I activated the ranged target scope that my unit had and used it to zoom in and get a closer look at the object and saw that it was indeed our target. With that confirmation, I dropped out of supersonic flight, kept myself going forward at a high velocity towards the Silver Gospel. The IS showed no signs of spotting us or if it was, it didn't view Houki and myself as a threat… Well, doubt that'll last very long. Had my beam rifles appear and took them out, combined them together, brought the long rifle to bare on the opposing unit. As I aimed, I calculated where I would need to shoot, taking into account forward motion of the Silver Gospel. Had to adjusted my line of fire ahead of the machine to compensate for forward momentum.

Once I had a clear lock on the white straight flying duck that might as well be sitting for the good its course is doing in the point of me shooting it. It was 'a sitting duck'; I pulled the trigger, letting lose a fair sized beam off in the direction of the Silver Gospel. I felt satisfaction as I watched my shot nail the 'sitting duck'… I mean the IS, and it fell ten feet before it recovered and leveled out in its flight path. It can safely be assumed that the Silver Gospel's AI, is now assessing the situation and making a logical strategic method to 'deal' with Houki and myself.

Fifteen seconds passed, before the target IS began to respond to the attack I made. Houki came up not too far from me, though I was focused on the Silver Gospel as it was now going into action. As the rogue IS shot towards us, Houki and I shot off in opposite directions, in the hopes that we could split and confuse the AI. However, the Silver Gospel spun around and by doing so, unleashed an area attack, that was wide spread and in all directions outward from the IS. Light blue energy balls came from the machine's wings, which they then flew towards Houki and myself. Did some aerial acrobatics to dodge the incoming enemy fire, though at the same time I caught glimpses of Houki. She was doing her best to evade the shots and did avoid being hit by the majority of them, but there were some that made contact. What actually held my attention, was the seemingly random flickering and arcing of the energy shield Houki's unit was doing. Those occurrences are signs that the adjusting hadn't been done correctly, at least not completely. … As I had feared, the bunny rushed some of the adjustments and now there was a possibility of a system failing as a result.

The reason that these signs stood out to me, was they were pretty much the same subtle signs I had corrected during the designing of the energy barrier feature of the IS. It had taken me almost two weeks to come up with a way to fix the problem that had been happening. The said problem was a few components of the system that didn't sync like they were supposed to or the way I envisioned and so created errors in the shield deployment and field emission. The issue itself wasn't a huge thing to worry about normally, takes a sizeable amount of stress to cause the shield to fail. As ISs are used in competitions, should the shield fail somehow, it's not the end of the world… To everyone that is… controlled circumstances and all. Yet in a situation like this, a shield failure would be far more serious occurrence. The reason is, a shield failure like this doesn't active the mandatory unlock, so the unit still is active even if the shield isn't. That puts the pilot at risk of being injured and there's no one to stop situation if it goes that far as there would be in a competition.

The fight continued and the Silver Gospel was making it very hard to get very close to it, which would've given a chance for a direct strike. As such, Houki and I were kept at a moderate distance and with the speed that this machine had, it was able to dodge most attacks. The battle was getting grueling as it dragged on and would likely become more so the longer this went on. I evaded a shot that whizzed past me flying down to the ocean below, that something caught my eye. The sight of a ship… A fishing trawler if I'm not mistaken… But, there shouldn't be anyone in this area right now! This area of the ocean is a prohibited for fishing or for ships to sail without permission.

As more energy blast kept coming in my direction the realization of the ship and its crew, whomever they be, were now at risk of being hit by stray shots. I dove down and put myself between the Silver Gospel and the ship, using my wrist light shields to deflect the blast that came at me while shooting a volley back as best I could. The Silver Gospel didn't let up and was trying to pin me down until it overwhelm me. However, before that event could happen, Houki blocked some of the incoming blasts, helping me by taking some of the payload coming my way off my shoulder.

Looking to Houki with an expression of gratitude, yet I received a glare of incredulity. "What are you doing?! Why are you wasting time?! We need to take this IS down quickly!" Yelled Houki.

Apparently, she didn't know about the fishing trawler down below… well, I gestured downward at the ship below to show my point. Houki glanced down at the ship, eyes widening at the sight. She then looked back at me, her expression changing little, "You got to be kidding me, no one is supposed to be here… Just ignore them! Ships are not allowed in this area, that makes them criminals, it's their own fault that they're here right now!" Houki snapped back at me.

Stared at the girl who had just answered me by saying to ignore the people below us, hadn't expected her to say anything like this. The Houki Shinonono that I have come to know over the last few months, wouldn't say to ignore other people. That would be what I would expect from the pale marionette and the stupid rabbit as that's how they normally are, don't care about others. So, where did this new side of Houki come from? Did that horrible sister of hers manage to affect her? … I'll strangle that hasenpfeffer when I get my hands on her for this among other things! As for me, I won't do such things, if I did then I would be no different than those I dislike in my life. A frown formed on my face; I didn't pay attention to what Houki had just said and went back to blocking shots from connecting to the ship, before replying to Houki. "If you think I'll ignore people just because they decide to do dumb things, then you don't know me well at all Houki!" I shouted back.

Houki looked shock at my reply, "What are you saying?! Those down on that ship aren't worth protecting!" she shouted back.

Not worth… I'm going to lay a very serious beating on that bunny when I get to her! Only the bunny's influence, can serve as a logical explanation as to why Houki has changed like as she has. This is just getting ridiculous! … Although, now that I take the time, I see the opposing IS had ceased firing blasts off at us. Can't say why it has, maybe the AI is listening, by the specs it's supposed to be able to learn somewhat from what it observes. But, back to the current problem while there's a rest bit; we're fighting one another more than we're going against the Silver Gospel, and it needs to stop! "ENOUGH HOUKI!" I bellowed.

Houki stopped glaring and focused on me, which I held her gaze right now. I then got the thought in my mind out in the hopes that Houki would listen, "With great power, comes great responsibility to use it for good… to help and protect others! It doesn't matter who they are, or what they've done. We're all human, and so make mistakes. You're better than this, to let power blind you to this fact… like your sister has become… You're better than that Houki."

My companion, had stopped where she was, adopting an expression of pain and realization. Houki's weapon slipped out of her hands and fell dropping a distance, before disappearing in a flash of light. I noticed the tears that began to fall from her face as she was stuttering words that I couldn't make out. A blared warning snapped back to the situation at hand, the fight with the Silver Gospel. The IS was done listening and was charging up the weapons in its wings and was facing our direction. However, it wasn't the same light blue energy that it had been shooting at us previously, but something else and from the readouts I was getting… It was going to hit hard!

Memory of the subtle signs of possible failure with Houki's shield came back to the forefront of my mind. With Houki, in an unstable emotional state as she was, wouldn't have the time to dodge and so would likely take the shot directly. Houki's unit's shield hadn't been adjusted correctly and so could fail. Even if it didn't, there could be a few different things that are possible outcomes. The system could use energy faster than it would if calibrated right. It could just outright not block incoming shots, leaving the pilot to take the blow directly. In other words, the rabbit had been impatient and hadn't gone over the energy shield to check to see the adjustment correctly and screwed Houki over like I had told her not to!

If her shield failed in some way… Houki would get seriously hurt. If it didn't, then it would more likely hit zero and the IS could disengage and… what are we? Over five hundred feet up in the air? Doesn't take a genius to figure out what a fall from that height or more will do to a person. … So, what do I do so that Houki doesn't get hurt or worse dies? There's but one answer… I use my body to block the shot… while hoping and praying that the life support system built into my unit will be able to handle a bad situation if things go wrong if my shield isn't able to block the incoming blast. My unit has a way to disburse energy that it absorbs, but it isn't infallible and if it doesn't work… it won't be good for me!

I rushed forward to set myself between Houki and the Silver Gospel, readying myself. As I didn't hear anything from Houki, so I don't think she even saw me move in between the dangerous IS and her. Barely managed to position myself, when the IS that Houki and I were here to deal with fired off not one, but three blasts in our direction… Crap! The blasts were a darker blue than the energy that had been fired at Houki and myself before now. Only had time to watch as the three shots flew at me and if I hadn't seen three separate shots fired from the opposing IS, then I would've thought it was just one shot. However, when the blasts impacted against my unit, there was no doubt that it was three individual shots hitting me with the force I was feeling! All three blasts slammed into my chest within the timespan of a little more than a second.

The first hit just above my heart, the second over my right lung and the last over my left lung. My shield had blocked enough to not get me critical, life threatening injuries right then and there. Nonetheless, where my unit may have absorbed and disbursed the majority of the energy, it wasn't enough to prevent me taking a good deal of force directly to my own body. The shock that my chest took felt like a little more than receiving a solid body blow from a champion boxer. So, the wind not only got knocked out of me, but sent that breath a few blocks away as well. All the air in me was sent out in a single motion.

"GAH!" I cried out in pain.

… Thus there was a lack of oxygen and I was gasping… Attempting to take in air. Hell, I'm surprised my chest didn't rupture open forming a gaping hole with blood streaming out with what I had just taken! My logical brain was trying to figure out just how much damage had been done, while screaming at me for being so stupid. I came to realize that I hadn't got out of taking the blasts without physical injuries. There was unmistakably, blood flowing out from under the front restraint made sure I knew that. Was having quite the time just staying awake and not going off to la la land or to the ether right now as it is.

"SAI!"

I barely registered Houki screaming my name as my unit began to drop like a stone with smoke streaming out of the damaged chest restraint. In seconds, system controls switched over from taking input from me, to automatic system control settings. Yes, Corinthos was assuming control as he was supposed to in times of crisis. Next thing to happen, was the life support functions were started for me and the pain I was in lessened slightly. Was still plummeting downward at rather alarming speeds, though it was weird… I knew what was happening, but I wasn't much in the state to care… Strange. Managed to get some of my breath back and regained use of my voice, "Corinthos… Execute, 'Exit stage left'." I choked out.

"Affirmative... Executing Exit stage left protocol… Engaging full armor mode… Plotting course for extraction." Corinthos replied.

It didn't take long for my unit's 'shifting armor' to deploy and encase me, for further protection. Yet the pain was getting worse, I would need medical attention soon, Life support was helping, but the current circumstances weren't helping at all. The quicker that was obtained, the better off I would be. "Corinthos… Need to hurry…" I got out.

"…"

I struggled to keep awake and alert, Corinthos not responding was weird and now isn't the best time for this to happen. All I was getting through the sound channels was static, "Corinthos?"

The sound of static stopped, expecting to hear Corinthos I listened for his reply, "Beginning pilot and situation assessment…"

My blood ran cold and hearing, not Corinthos, but a female voice that I hadn't heard in years, other in the nightmares that I had that involved my past. It can't be… that shouldn't be possible! She shouldn't still exist… Not after the damage that the zero core had taken!

"Assessment complete… Pilot condition becoming critical… Evacuation required… Executing extraction." Said the female voice.

Felt the motion of climbing upward, but I couldn't confirm that with my sight as it was blurring and crossing. "Course set… Entering Hypersonic flight in… Five… Four…" Said the female voice for the third time.

I was seeing the grey tunnel of unconsciousness appear and start closing in on me. Staying awake was becoming nigh impossible, but I tried to keep myself from blacking out as hard as I could. "Three… Two… One… Zero."

Felt a hard pull from behind… Or was it a thrust forward? I can't tell anymore! The grey tunnels were quickly closing in and blackness was following them. Within seconds I lost my battle and blackness over took me completely.

-Scene Change-

When I opened my eyes and looked around, I found myself in a place I didn't want to see ever again. It was from a view that I couldn't ever forget and knew instantly that I was in a nightmare. One that has haunted me from time to time and served to remind me the first lesson I learned, "never count on a person's position guaranteed that they would fulfill the responsibilities that position is supposed to do" there will be those who won't. One man taught me that lesson well at a young age. Footsteps came from behind me, and turning around… speak of the devil. The man who got the lesson of not fulfilling position… the man that I'd come to loath greatly… my 'father'.

His eyes were blood shot and he had a length of wood, over two feet in length, somewhat thin but sturdy. The stick of wood which resembled a ruff sword to an extent was in his right hand... the feeling of fear flooded me. It was all too familiar as my 'father' had asserted dominance through fear with me in the last year. This was taught through the beatings that this man had given me at least once a week… Usually more, when I would speak and he heard me. The feeling of the 'wood sword' coming down on my back as I tried to get away from my 'father' was so realistic, that I for a moment thought I was a child again, living through this horrible experience. This nightmare was of the final beating that I got before the man that was my male sire left the place I called home, never to see him afterward.

The first hit had hurt, registered to my mind more as a burning sensation than an impact that it was. Only later was I to understand that what I thought was fire on my back was the foot-long scar which started at my mid-back and ran parallel to my spine and was two inches to the left of my spinal cord. Stung like no other, the impact hadn't been nice but the gash that I got which formed the scar I still carry after the years that had passed. The wood sword object that my 'father' used, may have not been all that sharp, but it was sharp enough to cut a gash in my backside. I had cried out in pain and no one could really blame me for doing so with the pain I was feeling. Collapsed to my hands and knees after the blow, yet I managed to not touch the floor with anything else then my hands and knees.

It hadn't stopped there… No, my 'old man' kept going… with more gusto after getting a reaction from me. The hits came with increasing frequency and each of them hurt, it took a lot to keep myself from screaming out in pain again. If one cry had brought this, I didn't want more, yet the tears flowed from my eyes, though the man wouldn't see them as my face was pressed to the floor. Yet my silence didn't last long as around a minute after the first scar I would take from this experience had come, two more burning pains came and I cried out once more. This time the flaming sensation were on my upper back, went from both of my shoulders going down diagonally for more than half my back. Both the burning lines came close to the first one, but didn't touch it. I collapsed the rest of the way to the floor soon after those burning strikes came, but… That brought on another searing pain that was worse than the previous three as it felt longer than the ones before. The last had started at my mid-back and gone down to my left hip. Only after that did the striking to my back stop. I heard my father say something, can't say what it had been, before he left the house.

…

Cracking my eyes open which had small tears at the corners from having to relive one of the worst nights of my life. Saw an unfamiliar ceiling, felt like sh*t from all the pain and had no idea what was going on. I heard beeping from somewhere above where my head was positioned. And then, I felt an object sitting on my face, specifically over my mouth and nose, the feeling of air hitting my mouth and nose softly did register to my brain. I attempted to move different parts of my body; my arms, legs, anything, but little if any responded to my commands. All that came to me, was signals of pain to my brain from pretty much all over my body, most notably from my chest, which was throbbing horribly.

Was wondering what was the deal, when out of nowhere, information popped up in front of my face. It took me several seconds to focus and see that the 'information' were from display readouts. On closer and longer inspection, I saw the info being displayed, was details of bodily physical condition… my condition. Yet… that doesn't make much sense… why would there be info on my condition be shown to me… and how is it being done? I glanced downward, but I found my line of sight blocked by… an oxygen mask that was set over my mouth and nose. That explained why I had been feeling a soft stream of air around that area. The air had been fresher than one would expect normally, meaning I was breathing close to pure oxygen, if not pure oxygen.

A sharp pain shot through my head, making me forget about the oxygen mask. Out of reflex I brought a hand to hold my head. However, I instantly forgot about my headache at seeing black where that color shouldn't be. My eyes widen as I took in that the black that was encasing my arm.

A black rectangular casing was visible, which my arm was slotted in, by the feel to around just behind the center of the forearm. The metal arm kept going for another two feet from where my fingers were touching the manipulation controls. There was a metal ring that was three inches thick that was right behind the wrist. On what would be the 'top' of the arm was a plate that started at the same size of the arm. It went back of the arm increasing in width to being one and a half times as wide as the arm at just before the elbow, then curved inward a small margin. There also was an almost circular orb at the point where the top plate curved inward and from the orb forward, was a white stripe to the front end of the plate. The 'hand' was made up of the palm top cover and the grey mechanical fingers. My upper arm was still free as were my legs.

Raising my upper body, even with the pain that came with the action, I pushed through the pain. Once I got my head high in order to see what was going on. Glancing downward, I saw an orb that was glowing dully in the center that was set directly over my heart and covered my upper chest, down to the bottom of my ribcage. The orb itself was surrounded by a two-inch-wide ring, the bottom half was white and the top half was grey. A small plate was set at the top section of the ring and went over four-inches, covering the part of the orb. Below the lower section of the orb ring, approximately five-inches a black rectangular plate that was three-inches in width, stretched up and went almost halfway up the orb to end at just under the center. Two black parts came over the chest orb slightly on both sides, and both pieces had vents that were white.

That clenched it to me in my mind… what I was seeing… was parts of the 'Black Knight' unit. I would know better than any other what it looks like… I had been the pilot after all. The 'Black Knight'… IS… equipped with prototype core zero. However, the problem was that I was absolutely sure that it was gone. The damage that had been received in the final operation I had participated in, wasn't small! Yes, my unit's core is built from the remains of that core… which I don't believe the either the bunny or the doll knew survived at all. I suppose that even with what had remained… it's possible it still exists. Yet that's just plain crazy… But, that's the story of my life as of late. The readings that are being displayed… I took another look at the readouts again and saw that… the IS was doing what it could to heal me. The 'Black Knight' was equipped with life support system that was built in the unit… was no joke! Was beyond state of the art back at the time when it had been built… probably still is now. I took a moment to slowly lower myself back down to lay in a horizontal position and sighed.

But the question I have, how is the Black Knight even still able to materialize? What had remained of the zero core, may have been enough for me to work with to build a working IS core… and an amazing one at that. But the point was that the damage had been extensive and that just doesn't quite say it! So how is it possible… unless… it's been restoring itself over the years little by little. With that prototype… along with the 'AI' that was an assistant to the main control system it had… it wouldn't exactly surprise me if the unit could have somehow managed to do so. The AI of the Black Knight had been something else… its design was what I used as a basis to make Corinthos, just made sure to not put in a few particular things that the first AI had that had caused problems. After all, I couldn't forget hearing the AI's voice at the end of the fight with the Silver Gospel… Never could forget that voice. I exhaled, took a moment to do some delicate IS hand manipulation and removed the oxygen mask from my face. Then said a line I had thought I would never ever say again, "Veda, what's the current status and condition of the unit and myself?"

Didn't have to wait, apparently the AI is still as efficient as it was before, "Calculating Unit's status… overall status is at sixty-one percent… Chest section damage is estimated at class C… Time needed for unit self-repair system to complete repairs… Approximately ninety minutes… Pilot condition… Bodily injuries… overall midrange... Damage to heart and lungs area… highly moderate… Regenerating circulatory system damage and cardiovascular system shock damage… Time until regeneration completion… Three-hundred-sixty minutes with minimal activity." Replied Veda.

Great, that's not what I wanted to hear, though it could be worse for me right now. Yet, the question 'what now' comes to mind… For I have no f**king idea at the moment. All I can say with any surety right now, is I feel like sh*t and really, REALLY want to cause problems and pain to the hasenpfeffer for what she's done recently… to me, to Houki and to anyone else she's screwed over! … For vengeance will be mine!

I was sulking and brooding, I was contemplating my vengeance on the rabbit, when the sound of female voices came to my ears. Upon further listening, I identified that the sound of voices was that of arguing and… There was some screaming. Although I couldn't tell what the subject matter was or why it was occurring. I sat up slowly to attempt to minimize the pain that was flowing through me… Didn't exactly succeed, but I didn't completely fail… Hurt to sit up anyways. Was more painful to get to my feet, but I did just that. The IS chest section remained equipped as did the forearm parts. To say that I was in pain… Would be an understatement, I was in an a** load of pain and wasn't happy right now… NO SIRY!

I… Well, did something between a shuffle and limping in making my way towards the door. There was too much noise for me to get any sleep and I was very tired. The screeching and sniping had gotten very annoying, really quick! None of the deployed parts of the Black Knight IS, inhibited my movement enough to notice a difference. Once I got to the door, I paused as I was breathing hard and took the time to catch my breath. A stitch had started in my right side, was like a knife pressing in with every breath I took in. I'm not saying that the life support system that my unit had wasn't doing its job, it's the task is a large and difficult one.

Chapter end.

A/n

And that's where I'll leave off with this chapter. First I admit that for the timeline that involves Tabane and the IS might be off a little with how the anime and manga have it, but I use the liberty of bending things as a writer. Second with Sai's past, he was different than he is now, but I would say most are different when they're children than when they're adults. Please take the time to review and tell me what you think of the story or if you wish to bring up a point or mistake that you see. Hope you enjoyed and peace out all, until the next chapter, can't say when that will be.


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